Haidilao International, China’s largest hotpot restaurant chain, said it has submitted an application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for the listing of Super Hi International Holding Ltd, the unit in charge of Haidilao’s catering business outside of Great China.
Haidilao proposed to spin off and separately list the shares of Super Hi on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange by way of introduction, it said. Morgan Stanley and Huatai International will be joint sponsors for the offering.
Haidilao opened its first overseas restaurant in Singapore in 2012 and as of the end of March this year, Haidilao International had opened 97 restaurants in 11 countries across Asia, North Africa, Europe and Oceania, according to its prospectus.
Super Hi made a revenue of $312 million in 2021, surging 41.1% from a year earlier, and in the first quarter of the year, its revenue jumped 59.8% on year to $109 million. The company has logged three consecutive annual losses, losing $151 million in 2021, expanding by 1.8 times from a year earlier. In the first quarter of this year, it booked $24.5 million loss, expanding by 13.2% from the loss for the same period last year.
Super Hi recorded 3.8 million customer visits in the first quarter of the year, jumping by 60.3% from a year earlier. Earlier, it recorded 7.1 million customer visits in 2020 and 9.8 million in 2021.