IPO News | Rumor has it that Changchang and its Watsons have once again postponed the Hong Kong-UK dual listing plan

The Zhitong Finance App learned that, according to reports, Changhe (00001) has suspended the London and Hong Kong dual listing plans of its retail business Watsons Group in response to the current market environment. However, if market conditions and Watsons's own business environment improve, it is not ruled out that the listing process will resume next year.

The report said that in addition to capital market performance, weak consumer demand in China has also become the main pressure facing Watsons IPO plans. In the current context where there is still uncertainty about the recovery in consumption, retail industry valuations and investors' willingness to subscribe may be affected, challenging the timing of Watsons's listing.

According to data, A.S. Watson Group (A.S. Watson Group) was founded in 1841. It is one of the core retail businesses of Changjiang Hutchison Industrial and is also the world's largest international health and beauty retail group. Currently, the Group operates in 31 markets around the world, operates 12 retail brands, has more than 17,000 online and offline stores, and employs more than 130,000 people. Its brands include Watsons, Kruidvat, Superdrug, Rossmann, etc. In the mainland China market, Watsons has more than 3,200 stores, covering more than 500 cities, and has accumulated more than 70 million members. In addition to health and beauty retail, the Group's business also covers fields such as Top 100 supermarkets, Fortress, Watsons Cellars, and beverage manufacturing and distribution.

In fact, there have been signs that Watsons listing plans have been delayed before. In October of this year, there was news in the market that Watsons's dual listing plan had been postponed until next year, and people familiar with the matter were quoted as saying that its IPO had been approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, but it still needed to obtain approval from China's data security-related regulators.

Notably, this is the second time that Watsons has postponed its listing plan. Changhe had previously planned to promote the listing of Watsons, but during the pandemic, the relevant arrangements were put on hold due to changes in the market environment. Earlier in the market, it was reported that the Watsons Group originally planned to go public in London and Hong Kong this fall, raising capital of about 2 billion US dollars, corresponding to a valuation of about 30 billion US dollars.

Overall, Watsons's suspension of listing reflects the current valuation pressure faced by the retail consumer industry, as well as the company's cautious attitude in choosing the capital market window. Whether it can relaunch its listing next year still depends on the degree of improvement in the market environment, the recovery in consumer demand, and the progress of related regulatory approvals.