Private equity-backed SF Express lists in Shenzhen

The publicly-traded shell company, Maanshan Dintai Rare Earth & New Materials, has been renamed SF Holdings, according to a filing. SF Express announced its backdoor listing plan in May last year and received approved from the China Securities Regulatory Commission in December.

Under the proposal, Maanshan Dintai exchanged assets worth RMB796 million with SF Express and issued RMB42.5 billion worth of new shares in exchange for SF Express shares held by other shareholders. SF Express chairman Wei Wang has become the controlling shareholder of the listed entity.

Founded in 1993, Shenzhen-based SF Express has built a nationwide logistics network, including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. It has also expanded overseas and now serves South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and the US. By the end of 2015, the delivery firm had about 340,000 employees, 15,000 vehicles and 30 freight aircraft.

In August 2013, a consortium comprising CITIC Capital, Oriza Holdings, China Merchants Group and Jade Capital bought a 25% stake in SF Express for a reported RMB8 billion. Following the listing, CITIC, China Merchants and Oriza each own 6.37% of the company, while Jade Capital has 1.27%, the filing showed.

Revenue came to RMB47.3 billion in 2015, up from RMB38.2 billion in 2014, while net profit jumped from RMB1.1 billion to RMB2 billion over the same period.

SF Express’ rival ZTO Express, which is backed by PE investors including Warburg Pincus and Hillhouse Capital, went public in the US in October, raising $1.4 billion. Prior to that, Shanghai YTO Express, which is backed by Alibaba Group and Yunfeng Capital, and STO Express completed A-share listings through reverse mergers.  

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• Topics
• Greater China
• IPO
• Support services
• Consumer
• China
• Logistics
• CITIC Capital
• Transportation
• Consumer
• Exit