Pu’er Lancang Ancient Tea Co., Ltd. (Lancang Tea or the Company, together with its subsidiaries, the Group; HKG: 6911), one of the most famous Pu’er tea companies in China, officially listed and commenced trading on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the Hong Kong Stock Exchange) this morning.
This Global Offering for Lancang Tea involves 21,000,000 Shares (assuming the Over-allotment Option is not exercised) at a final Offer Price of HK$10.70 per Offer Share. The gross proceeds of the Company from the Global Offering were HK$224.7 million. The Hong Kong Public Offer was oversubscribed with valid applications received for approximately 13.23 times the total number of Offer Shares initially available for subscription, and the International Offer was also oversubscribed by approximately 1.32 times. The final number of Offer Shares under the Hong Kong Public Offer and the International Offer were 2,100,000 shares and 18,900,000 shares, respectively, each representing 10% and 90% of the total number of Offer Shares initially available under the Global Offering prior to the exercise of any Over-allotment Option.
The history of Lancang Tea brand can be traced back to 1966, and Ms. Du Chunyi, the founder and tea master, has been intimately involved in the tea industry for over 57 years, leading Lancang Tea becoming one of China’s most famous brands of Pu’er tea. With stringent quality requirements running through the entire industrial chain, Lancang Tea is among the very few tea companies in China experienced in raw material management, product development, production, end customer reach and membership services. With a focus on Pu’er tea, the products of Lancang Tea covers black tea, white tea, flavored tea and others. According to the F&S Report, Lancang Tea is the third largest Pu’er tea company in China in terms of revenue generated from Pu’er tea products in China. It is expected in the report that the market size of China’s tea leaf market will reach RMB441.2 billion in 2027, and it is expected that the CAGR of Pu’er tea and black tea will exceed 6.5%, while the CAGR of white tea will even reach 17.1%.
With Lan Cang Gu Cha as its core brand, the Company has developed and structured two product lines, i.e., “1966” and “Tea Mama”. Among them, “1966” focuses on the development, manufacturing and sales of classic Pu’er tea leaf products, serving as the bedrock of the Company’s performance with a revenue proportion maintained at over 65%. This product line is highly regarded among Pu’er tea enthusiasts, with several bedrock products, such as fermented Pu’er tea Shining Gold, having track records of successful iterations. In 2014, the Company has capitalized on its rich product development experience in Pu’er tea to launch the “Tea Mama” product line to expand its business into other types of teas, such as black tea, white tea and flavored tea, and employed tea cups and tea bags to enrich the product portfolio. In 2020, 2021 and 2022, the revenue generated from Tea Mama products was RMB94.8 million, RMB126.7 million and RMB144.4 million, respectively. We believe that with a rich product portfolio, Tea Mama will be the next source of growth. In addition, Lancang Tea launched a new product line, Iland Tea, in July 2022. These products can meet various demands from different groups of consumers, such as Pu’er tea enthusiasts, sophisticated tea drinkers, broader mass consumers and new middle-class consumers with stronger purchasing power.
Leveraged on the ability to source high-quality rough tea leaves, accumulation of unique production techniques and stringent quality control measures, Lancang Tea has consistently launched high-quality products, with unique, recognizable and stable flavor, to the market over the years. The vast majority of Lancang Tea’s tea leaves are sourced from Pu’er, Lincang and Xishuangbanna, the three major production areas of Pu’er tea in Yunnan. In particular, Jingmai Mountain in Pu’er hosts some of the largest, oldest and best-preserved ancient tea tree plantations in the world. According to the F&S Report, Lancang Tea was the largest purchaser of rough tea leaves from ancient tea trees in Jingmai Mountain in terms of procurement volume during the Track Record Period. The ancient tea tree plantations in the region have been included in the World Heritage List since September 2023. Having been developing in the region for many years, the Company has established long-term and strong relationships with major cooperatives in Jingmai Mountain, and Company’s brand image and the popularity of its products are expected to be benefited as the plantations has been included in the World Heritage List.
Lancang Tea has established a comprehensive sales network with omni-channel reach, and the national sales network consists of direct sales and distributor sales. As of December 5, 2023, the Company had 559 offline stores, among which 23 were self-operated stores and 536 were distributor-operated stores. As of June 30, 2023, approximately 70% of the distributors had been part of the sales network for more than three years. At the same time, the Company continued to develop its online business, with online shops established on various well-known online platforms including Tmall, WeChat, Douyin, Kuaishou and JD.com. The Company has also expanded its sales network into key account channels including hypermarket chains and platform-operated online stores.
Ms. Wang Juan, an executive Director and the general manager of Lancang Tea, said, “Today is an important milestone for Lancang Tea, the Company’s successful listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange demonstrates investors’ confidence in our long-term development. As the first IPO of Pu’er tea in Hong Kong’s capital market, Lancang Tea will continue to carry out its mission of “persevering in craftsmanship to pursue the genuine taste and presenting wholesome tea leaf products” in the future, and fully capitalize the development opportunities of China’s tea industry, and is committed to building a century-old tea brand through various means such as upgrading and building a modern production, logistics and warehousing center, continuing to expand its sales network, increasing efforts on multi-channel expansion across multiple product lines, expanding the capabilities for product research and development, innovation and iteration, and investing in the construction of digital systems to strengthen its brand image and customer recognition.”
