Sidley advised on the successful initial public offering (IPO) and dual primary listing of MINISO Group Holding Limited (HKEX: 9896) (MINISO) on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (HKEX). MINISO is the first consumer and retail company to have completed a dual primary listing in Hong Kong, making it one of the highest profile deals in the market this year. Sidley acted as Hong Kong and U.S. legal counsel for the joint sponsors Merrill Lynch (Asia Pacific) Limited, Haitong International Capital Limited, and UBS Securities Hong Kong Limited, as well as the underwriters.
“Acting as the joint sponsors’ and the underwriters’ counsel, the Sidley team’s high professionalism and persistent dedication played a critical role in our successful home-coming dual-primary listing in Hong Kong,” commented Steven Zhang, Chief Financial Officer of MINISO.
MINISO has received series round financings from Hillhouse and Tencent Mobility. Its shares listed on the HKEX will be convertible with their American depositary shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
MINISO is a consumer home goods retailer offering a variety of design-led lifestyle products. In 2021, the aggregate GMV of products sold through its network reached approximately RMB18 billion (US$2.8 billion), making it the largest global branded variety retailer of lifestyle products according to the Frost & Sullivan Report.
The Sidley team was led by partners Meng Ding, Steven Hsu, and Claudia Yu. Other team members included counsels Damien Yeow and Eva Tsui, senior managing associate Liming Xu, registered foreign lawyer Dennis Chan, legal manager Gilbert Han, associates Melinda Li and Junlang Chen, project manager Hannah Wong, and senior legal assistants Lang Chen, Jiangyuan Song, Tana Tian, Lorraine Wang, and Alice Xu.
The reformed dual primary listing requirements of the HKEX took effect in January 2022. With one of the largest Hong Kong IPO teams in the region of more than 100 lawyers and legal professionals, Sidley has been a pioneer in the first wave of trend-setting transactions in the last 20 years, from Chapter 18A pre-revenue biotech company listings and Chapter 18B SPAC listings to Chapter 19 and 19C primary and secondary listings.
Sidley remains the No. 1 legal adviser by deal count in the Hong Kong IPO league table in the last 24 months (through June 2022), according to Ryanben Capital.
