Supermarket chain raises US$400m ahead of IPO

China Resources Vanguard, the supermarket chain of the state-owned conglomerate China Resources Holdings, has raised US$400 million (HK$3.12 billion) in a private funding round ahead of its proposed initial public offering in Hong Kong, people with knowledge of the matter said

Country Garden (2007) led the round, which also drew funds from ABC International and BOC International, said the people.

The Guangdong-based China Resources is weighing an IPO for its supermarket business in Hong Kong that could raise as much as US$2 billion, Bloomberg reported last year.

The share sale could take place this year at the earliest.

CR Vanguard, founded in 1984, has more than 3,240 self-owned stores across China with over 170,000 employees, according to its website. In addition to Vanguard, its brands also include Suguo and Ole as well as Tesco Express shops in the country.

Meanwhile, Chinese online question and answer website Zhihu (2390), fell 21.7 percent to HK$25.1 on Futu Securities' gray market ahead of its debut in Hong Kong today, meaning investors suffered a paper loss of over HK$696 per board lot.

Its shares lost 22.6 percent on Phillip Securities's gray market and dropped 21.4 percent on Bright Smart Securities' platform.

The Beijing-based company has raised HK$791.94 million in its Hong Kong IPO after pricing its shares at HK$32.06 apiece, 38 percent below the offer price ceiling of HK$51.8 per share

Zhihu was listed in the US last March but its shares have fallen 64 percent this year amid China's crackdown on the tech sector. The Tencent (0007)-backed company had average monthly active users of 99.6 million in the final quarter of last year and an average monthly visitors of 500 million.

Founder and chief executive Zhou Yuan holds 11.64 percent of shares while Tencent owns a 12.02 percent stake.