Meicai, a Chinese startup that connects restaurants with vegetable producers, has picked banks for its proposed Hong Kong initial public offering, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The Beijing-based company has selected China International Capital Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Nomura Holdings Inc. to work on the first-time share sale, the people said. Meicai could raise $300 million to $500 million, they said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.
The produce supplier started preparations for a Hong Kong IPO, Bloomberg News reported in July, joining Chinese firms such as Lalamove and Xiaohongshu in shifting such plans away from the U.S. .
Deliberations are ongoing and details such as timing and fundraising size could change, said the people. Representatives for Citigroup, Meicai and Nomura declined to comment, while a representative for CICC didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Meicai -- whose name means “beautiful vegetable” in Chinese -- was founded in 2014 by rocket scientist Liu Chuanjun. Using a smartphone app, restaurant owners in China can order fresh produce directly from farms, cutting out middlemen. Meicai said it serviced more than 2 million restaurants in over 300 Chinese cities as of the end of 2020. The company counts Tiger Global Management, Hillhouse Capital and GGV Capital among its backers.
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