Chinese home appliance giant Midea Group has selected Bank of America and China International Capital Corporation to arrange its planned Hong Kong listing, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Shenzhen-traded company is aiming for a listing in the city as soon as next year, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. Midea has not made a final decision on the fundraising size, the people said.
Midea is China’s largest home appliance maker with a market value of about US$55 billion. Its board on Wednesday approved a plan to explore a Hong Kong listing, selling up to 10 per cent of its total capital.
Based on its market value, Midea’s Hong Kong share sale could be among the largest in the city in recent years. The Asian financial hub has not hosted any listing of US$1 billion or above so far in 2023 and there has not been any deal raising US$3 billion or more since JD Logistics’ US$3.6 billion initial public offering in May 2021, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Deliberations are ongoing and details such as timeline and bank line-up could still change, the people said. Representatives for Bank of America and CICC declined to comment, while a representative for Midea did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Founded in 1968, Midea manufactures air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, kitchen appliances and vacuum cleaners among others, according to its website. It sells products under brands including Midea, Comfee, Eureka, Little Swan and Vandelo. The Chinese firm in 2016 acquired Toshiba’s home appliance business. It also owns German robotics firm Kuka.
Midea remains acquisitive as it looks to expand its footprint beyond China. The home appliance giant earlier this year explored a potential acquisition of Electrolux and made a preliminary approach about a possible transaction, Bloomberg News has reported. Midea later dropped its pursuit of the white-goods maker after finding the Swedish company unreceptive to a deal, people familiar with the matter said at the time.
Advertisement
