Newtimespace IPO Watch | Busy Ming, the Creator of "Snack Freedom", Launches Aggressive IPO with Backing from Eight Cornerstone Investors Including Tencent and Temasek
On January 20, 2026, Busy Ming Group Co., Ltd. (01768.HK), China's largest leisure food and beverage chain retailer, officially kicked off its initial public offering (IPO), which will close on January 23 and is expected to list on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) on January 28. The offering price range is set at HK$229.6 to HK$236.6 per share, with a board lot size of 100 shares, resulting in a substantial entry cost of approximately HK$23,898.62 per board lot. The company plans to globally offer 14.1 million shares, with an expected maximum fundraising amount of around HK$3.336 billion.
Particularly noteworthy is that the company has successfully secured a star-studded lineup of cornerstone investors, with a total subscription amount reaching US$195 million (equivalent to approximately HK$1.52 billion). This accounts for about 46.24% of the shares offered in this IPO (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised), demonstrating the firm confidence of top global capital in the "snack discount retail" track and the company's leading market position.
Newtimespace observes that as the most eye-catching phenomenon-level company in the consumer sector over the past two years, Busy Ming's listing will undoubtedly test the capital market's recognition of the narrative logic of "consumption upgrading in the sinking market". Its post-listing performance will be directly subject to multiple core factors, including the sustainability of its ultra-high-speed growth, the management efficiency of nearly 20,000 franchise stores, and the risk of industry price wars.
Core Highlights: Blitzkrieg in the Sinking Market and Business Model Moat
Scale Barrier and Sinking Depth of the "King of Ten-Thousand Stores"
Busy Ming's core story lies in its staggering expansion speed and deeply penetrating network layout in the sinking market. Since completing the strategic merger with "Zhao Yiming Snacks" in November 2023, the company has entered a fast track of growth. The total number of stores surged from 6,585 at the end of 2023 to 19,517 by the end of September 2025 in less than two years, covering 28 provinces and all tiered cities in China. Critically, approximately 59% of its stores are located in counties and towns, with a network reaching 1,341 counties. According to a Frost & Sullivan report, the company ranks as China's largest leisure food and beverage chain retailer in terms of GMV in 2024. This capillary-like sinking network has formed a scale and geographical barrier that is difficult to replicate in the short term.
"Discount Retail Model" Defines Price and Experience
The company's business model innovation lies in reconstructing the value chain of traditional snack retail through the "discount retail model". By directly procuring large-scale goods from manufacturers and eliminating intermediate links, the company has achieved significant cost advantages. Reports indicate that the average price of its products is about 25% lower than that of similar products sold through offline supermarket channels. Meanwhile, by increasing the number of SKUs per store to no less than 1,800 (approximately twice the number of SKUs in supermarkets of the same scale) and custom-developing about 34% of exclusive products, the company has successfully created a consumption experience featuring both "low price" and "rich variety", precisely catering to the extreme pursuit of "cost-performance ratio" among consumers in the sinking market.
Light-Asset Expansion Driven Entirely by Franchise Model
Unlike the heavy-asset direct operation model, Busy Ming's growth engine relies almost entirely on its franchise system. As of September 30, 2025, the company has 9,552 franchisees operating 19,494 franchise stores. This model enables it to achieve high-speed network expansion with minimal capital expenditure, with revenue mainly derived from selling goods to franchisees and collecting franchise service fees. The company exerts control over franchise stores through a full-process digital system (ERP, POS) and standardized operation templates, striving to ensure consistent operational standards across all stores.
Financial Performance: Exponential Growth and Profitability Realization
Geometric Revenue Growth
The company's revenue skyrocketed from RMB 4.286 billion in 2022 to RMB 10.295 billion in 2023, and further reached RMB 39.344 billion in 2024. In the first nine months of 2025, revenue already hit RMB 46.371 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 75.2%. This growth is partly attributed to the consolidation of "Zhao Yiming Snacks" into the company's financial statements, but more importantly stems from endogenous expansion driven by the synergy of the two brands after the merger.
Profitability Improved with Scaling Up
Alongside the surge in revenue, the company's profitability has been strengthened simultaneously. Net profit increased from RMB 0.72 billion in 2022 to RMB 829 million in 2024, and even reached RMB 1.559 billion in the first nine months of 2025. Despite maintaining a relatively low gross profit margin of 7-8%, its excellent expense control capability—with a sales and marketing expense ratio of approximately 3.7%—has ensured the smooth realization of profits.
Operational Indicators Validate Business Model Health
In 2024, the company's GMV reached RMB 55.5 billion, with over 1.6 billion orders processed; in the first nine months of 2025, GMV already hit RMB 66.1 billion. These figures indicate that its extensive store network possesses robust transaction capabilities, and the business model is not simply about "opening stores", but has achieved effective traffic conversion and customer repurchase.
IPO Details: High-Valuation Offering Backed by Premium Cornerstone Investors
Busy Ming plans to globally offer 14.1 million shares in this IPO, with an offering price range of HK$229.6 to HK$236.6 per share. Based on the upper limit of the offering price at HK$236.6 per share, each board lot of 100 shares requires an entry cost of approximately HK$23,898.62, with the total expected fundraising amount reaching HK$3.124 billion. The public offering will close on January 23 and start trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on January 28.
The lineup of cornerstone investors can be described as a "dream team". According to the prospectus, a total of 8 cornerstone investors have participated, with a combined subscription amount of up to US$195 million, corresponding to approximately 6,519,800 shares. Among them, Tencent and Temasek, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, each subscribed US$45 million, making them the largest investors in the cornerstone lineup; BlackRock, the world's largest asset management company, subscribed US$35 million; and Fidelity International subscribed US$30 million. In addition, Bosera International, E Fund (Hong Kong), Springs Capital (Hong Kong) and Taikang Life Insurance each subscribed US$10 million.
Risk Factors: Four Hidden Concerns Behind the High-Growth Halo
The Achilles' Heel of the Franchise Model
With nearly 20,000 stores fully operated by franchisees, the management difficulty has increased exponentially. Although the company relies on digital tools for monitoring, ensuring that all franchisees are fully compliant in terms of food safety, pricing systems, and service quality is an extremely arduous challenge. Any regional negative incident may have a nationwide impact on the brand reputation. The control risk of this model is the Sword of Damocles hanging over its high-growth story.
Questions over Growth Sustainability and Regional Market Saturation
After nearly two years of "sprint-like" expansion, have high-quality store locations in core regional markets approached saturation? The location quality, incubation period and single-store profitability of newly opened stores in the future may face downward pressure. Whether growth will continue to rely on store expansion or shift to same-store sales growth will be a critical strategic turning point for the company.
Fierce Industry Competition and Profit Erosion Risk
Thanks to its clear business model and broad prospects in the sinking market, the snack discount retail track has attracted a large influx of capital and entrepreneurs, with numerous regional brands emerging across the country. The industry may rapidly transform from a "blue ocean" to a "red ocean", with price wars and franchisee competition imminent. This will pose a direct threat to the company's core gross profit margin and the stability of its franchise system.
Tensions in Supply Chain and Capital Chain
The expansion of business scale has led to a sharp increase in assets such as trade receivables and prepayments, which totaled nearly RMB 2.5 billion by the end of 2024. This not only occupies a large amount of working capital, but also exposes potential bad debt risks. At the same time, the deeply customized product model (accounting for 34% of SKUs) has increased reliance on key suppliers, making supply chain stability crucial.
Conclusion
Busy Ming's Hong Kong IPO presents investors with a vivid case study of the profound transformation in China's consumer market: how to cultivate a hundreds-of-billions-scale business territory in the sinking market ignored by giants through model innovation. With clear positioning, efficient execution and capital support, the company has established remarkable scale advantages and brand recognition in a short period of time. The collective heavy investment from top global capital players such as Tencent, Temasek and BlackRock has further added strong credit endorsement and long-term confidence to this story.
Nevertheless, while the capital market applauds its growth miracle and premium cornerstone investor lineup, it will inevitably scrutinize the resilience of its business model with more stringent standards. Listing is not the end, but a new starting point. Busy Ming needs to prove to the market that its management capabilities can keep pace with its expansion, its profit model can withstand cyclical fluctuations, and its competitive barriers can fend off swarms of imitators. For IPO investors, the strong cornerstone subscription provides an important safety cushion, but the high valuation and clear potential risks also require investors to have corresponding risk-bearing capacity and a long-term perspective.
