Miniso’s overseas retail shops include this one in Manhattan.
Russell Flannery
Chinese lifestyle retailer Miniso Group Holding, led by billionaire Ye Guofu, has submitted an application to list its Top Toy subsidiary at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the Guangzhou-headquartered company said in an announcement on Friday evening.
Details of the proposed spin-off, which has been expected, haven’t been finalized, Miniso said.
Miniso said in an announcement in August that Top Toy recently completed a round of financing led by Singapore-based investment firm Temasek that valued the business at approximately HK$10 billion, “demonstrating the market recognition of Top Toy’s business model, brand equity, and global expansion roadmap on a rapid growth trajectory of its pop toy business.”
Miniso’s market capitalization was HK$53 billion, or more than $6 billion, at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Friday.
Top Toy’s IP licensing partners include Sanrio, Marvel and Disney.
As of June 30, Miniso had a total of 293 Top Toy stores, 283 of which were located in mainland China. The retailer at midyear had more than 7,600 Miniso stores, including over 4,300 in mainland China and over 3,300 in overseas markets. Miniso stores sell a wide range of lifestyle items.
Hong Kong-listed shares in Miniso, whose stock also trades at the New York Stock Exchange, have climbed by nearly 31% in the past year. Chairman and founder Ye Guofu is worth $3 billion on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List today.
A global boom in the popularity of pop toys has lifted shares in China’s Pop Mart International Group by more than 400% in the past year. Wang Ning, the chairman of the company at the center of the global Labubu doll craze, has a fortune worth $22 billion on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List today.