Chow Tai Fook Planning Multi-Billion Dollar IPO

(IDEX Online News) - Jewelry retailer Chow Tai Fook, a DTC Sightholder, is planning an initial public offering (IPO) and has already picked the main underwriters, according to reports in the Hong Kong media.

The company could raise $3-$4 billion from the IPO, planned for the first quarter of 2012, Thomson Reuters reported on Monday.

Chow Tai Fook controlled by Cheng Yu-tung, has more than 1,000 stores, mostly in mainland China. Its estimated market value is over HK$100 billion (US$12.8 billion) and its annual sales exceed HK$30 billion (US$3.86 billion), according to the group’s website. The company plans to increase the number of stores to more than 2,000 by the end of 2020.

"We aim to open 200 stores every year, with 90 percent of them in China," Alan Chan, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery's global branding director, told the Reuters Global Luxury Summit in Hong Kong on Monday.

The company has two DTC Sights, one in London and another in South Africa under Zlotowski's Diamond Cutting Works. It polishes diamonds mainly in China, but has a polishing facility in South Africa as well.

The company has reportedly commissioned Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group, HSBC Holdings Plc and JPMorgan Chase as the main underwriters. Citigroup, Credit Suisse Group and UBS were also hired to underwrite the offer, according to Reuters.