China’s Transsion, Africa’s top phone maker, targets US$500 million Hong Kong listing
Shenzhen Transsion Holdings, the maker of Africa’s bestselling phones, aims to kick off its Hong Kong share offering on Wednesday to raise up to US$500 million ahead of a targeted October 15 listing, according to people familiar with the matter. The company, which already trades in Shanghai and has a market capitalisation of 62 billion yuan (US$9.24 billion), could offer up to 132 million…
Transsion Holdings, the Shenzhen-based company behind Africa's most popular phone brands – Tecno, Infinix and iTel – plans to launch a Hong Kong share offering on Wednesday, aiming to raise up to US$500 million. The listing is targeted for October 15, following trading from October 7 to 12. The offering could see the release of up to 132 million offshore ordinary shares, as per China Securities Regulatory Commission approval documents.
The company, which already trades in Shanghai with a market capitalisation of 62 billion yuan (US$9.24 billion), has witnessed a 53% plunge in profits to 2.6 billion yuan last year, while revenue dropped 4% to 65.5 billion yuan. Despite a brief recovery in the first half of this year, Transsion's shares on the Shanghai market have fallen 70% since their 2021 peak and have dropped 16% this year.
Founded in 2013, Transsion has expanded beyond Africa, penetrating markets like Latin America and Southeast Asia. However, it does not have a presence in China. The budget-phone maker has struggled with increased competition in Africa, particularly from Xiaomi and Oppo, as well as rising costs for semiconductor procurement, which has led to price hikes.
Citic Securities is the sole financial sponsor for the Hong Kong listing, as stated in the company's prospectus.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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