Bama Tea's 12-year journey to public listing finally sees light at the end of the tunnel.

On October 12, Bama Tea Co., Ltd. updated its post-hearing information pack on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, marking that the company has successfully passed the listing hearing. This IPO is jointly sponsored by Huatai International, ABC International, and Tianfeng International. This signifies that Bama Tea has taken a substantial step toward its final listing, propelling China's tea industry capitalization process into a new phase.

Looking back at Bama Tea's listing journey, the company attempted multiple IPOs over twelve years, with three failed attempts at A-share listings between 2013-2022. In January this year, the company shifted to Hong Kong stocks, submitting a prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, but the prospectus automatically expired due to failure to pass the hearing within the prescribed timeframe. In July, Bama Tea obtained an overseas issuance and listing filing notice from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, planning to issue no more than 29.1334 million ordinary shares. On August 28, the company resubmitted its application, finally successfully passing the hearing on October 12.

Previously, sources close to Bama Tea indicated that the company internally operates as a typical Fujian-style family enterprise management structure, and previous listing attempts were indeed affected by various market window period factors, with internal adjustments also taking place.

Breaking the IPO "Curse"

"Capital doesn't favor tea" - tea company listings have long been viewed as "tough nuts to crack."

Since 2012, multiple enterprises including Anxi Tieguanyin, China Tea Co., and Bama Tea have repeatedly submitted applications, but few have successfully listed.

Shanghai Bogai Consulting founding partner Gao Jianfeng noted that tea leaves are non-standardized products, with quality affected by multiple factors including raw materials, processing techniques, and environment, making it difficult to establish unified standards. Combined with the industry's strong cyclical nature and complex supply chains, this leads to significant business performance fluctuations, making capital markets particularly cautious in their scrutiny of tea companies.

To date, only Lancang Gucha listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange at the end of 2023, becoming one of the few tea companies to successfully enter capital markets in nearly a decade. However, as of October, its stock price has fallen more than 70% from its issue price. A senior industry researcher in South China noted that Hong Kong stock liquidity remains a key concern, and market performance after seizing the listing window will continue to influence capital market judgment of the industry.

In the 1990s, Bama Tea founder Wang Wenli was motivated by the price gap between coffee and his hometown's Tieguanyin tea to abandon stable employment and co-establish "Xiyuan Tea Factory" with brothers Wang Wenbin and Wang Wenchao, which became the predecessor to Bama Tea.

From the first Shenzhen store in 1997 to the first franchise store in Zhengzhou in 2007, Bama Tea proposed the concept of being "luxury goods in tea" during its sales expansion, positioning itself in the "ceremonial tea" market.

By 2012, there were nearly 1,000 Bama Tea chain stores domestically. Riding the wave of internet e-commerce, with support from institutions including IDG, Tiantu Investment, and Tongchuang Weiye, Bama Tea completed Series A financing.

According to Frost & Sullivan reports, by the end of 2023, Bama Tea ranked first in China's tea market by number of tea chain specialty stores; by 2023 sales revenue, the company ranked first in China's high-end tea market and also first in China's oolong and black tea markets; as of 2024, the company's Tieguanyin sales volume has ranked first nationally for over 10 consecutive years, with rock tea sales ranking first nationally for 5 consecutive years; by brand preference, the company ranks first in both China's tea market and high-end tea market.

According to prospectus disclosures, as of December 31, 2024, by number of chain specialty stores, Bama Tea is China's largest tea supplier. Its Tieguanyin sales have ranked first nationally for over ten consecutive years, while Wuyi rock tea and black tea have ranked first nationally for five and four consecutive years respectively.

Bama Tea's listing journey has been equally winding and lengthy. As early as 2013, the company planned to list on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange SME Board, briefly listed on the New Third Board, and terminated its listing in 2018.

Subsequently, Bama Tea submitted listing applications to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange ChiNext and Main Board in 2021 and 2022 respectively, but voluntarily withdrew both. In September 2023, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange terminated its IPO review, with all three A-share listing attempts ultimately failing.

After multiple setbacks, Bama Tea didn't stop. Leveraging its extensive national store network and mature brand and product matrix, the company continuously optimized its product portfolio and promoted digital operations, gradually earning renewed scrutiny from capital markets.

As of June 30, 2025, Bama Tea operates 3,633 offline stores nationwide, including 241 directly-operated stores and 3,392 franchise stores.

Additionally, relying on its "omni-channel chain + digitalization" model, Bama Tea has captured significant market share in the high-end tea sector. During the 2024 "Double 11" period, the company consecutively topped Tmall and JD tea category sales rankings, becoming a representative brand in China's high-end tea market, with online channel revenue accounting for 35.4% of total revenue. On the product side, Bama Tea leverages intangible cultural heritage techniques to create star products, launching high-end product series like "Sai Zhen Zhu."

According to the prospectus, for this Hong Kong listing, Bama Tea plans to use raised funds for expanding production bases, enhancing brand value, expanding direct retail networks, and accelerating digital construction.

Can the "Industry Leader" Maintain Its Leading Position?

China's tea market shows considerable overall scale. By sales revenue, the market grew from approximately 288.9 billion yuan in 2020 to about 325.8 billion yuan in 2024, with projections reaching approximately 407.9 billion yuan by 2029, representing a compound annual growth rate of about 4.6%.

Against this backdrop, the high-end tea market shows faster development momentum, with a compound annual growth rate of about 3.7% from 2020 to 2024, expected to reach about 5.6% from 2024 to 2029.

Currently, China's high-end tea market is highly fragmented, with over 1.6 million enterprises engaged in tea cultivation, production, and distribution as of the end of 2024. In 2024, the top five enterprises held only about 5.6% market share. High-end brands demonstrate stronger brand effects compared to mid-range and mass-market teas, with leading enterprises showing a "winner-takes-all" trend.

By sales revenue, Bama Tea's market share in China's high-end tea market increased from about 1.1% in 2020 to about 1.7% in 2024, ranking first in the industry.

Nevertheless, Bama Tea still faces performance concerns.

From 2022-2024, company revenue was 1.818 billion yuan, 2.122 billion yuan, and 2.143 billion yuan respectively. Net profits grew year-over-year, but 2024 growth significantly slowed.

Additionally, prospectus data shows declining loyal customer spending capacity. From 2020 to 2024, offline direct store member average annual purchase amounts decreased from 2,860.4 yuan to 2,469.6 yuan, a decline of 13.6%. This trend directly impacts overall performance.

In the first half of this year, company revenue was 1.063 billion yuan, down about 4.2% year-over-year; net profit was 120 million yuan, down about 17.8% year-over-year; net profit margin declined to 11.3%. The company explained that revenue decreases were mainly due to offline channel sales declines, while rising administrative expenses also contributed to profit declines.

Additionally, management structure has drawn controversy. According to previous prospectus disclosures, controlling shareholders Wang Wenbin, Wang Wenli, Chen Yajing, Wu Xiaoning, Wang Wenchao, and Wang Xiaoping, acting as parties in concert, hold 55.9% voting rights, with the controlling shareholder group consisting entirely of family members. Among them, Wang Wenbin, Wang Wenli, and Wang Wenchao are brothers, Chen Yajing is Wang Wenbin's spouse, Wu Xiaoning is Wang Wenli's spouse, and Wang Xiaoping is the sister of the three Wang brothers.

Bama Tea's management is also almost entirely comprised of controlling shareholders and their relatives. Wu Qingbiao, cousin of the three Wang brothers, serves as general manager, Wang Wenchao as deputy general manager, Wang Wenbin's son Wang Kunheng as co-general manager, and Wang Wenlong, cousin of the three Wang brothers, as board secretary and co-company secretary.

Under the Wang family's high degree of control and governance, Bama Tea demonstrated strong cohesion in its early development stages. However, as enterprise scale expands and post-listing requirements for standardized governance become more stringent, this model presents numerous concerns. How to maintain operational independence and stability after listing, and how to avoid benefit transfers and irregular fund occupation have become reasons for capital market hesitation.

Notably, Bama Tea also forms a so-called "Quanzhou wealthy circle" marriage network with senior management from enterprises like Septwolves and Anta. Previously, regulators have also inquired about potential benefit transfers.

According to public prospectus information, Wang Wenbin's daughter Wang Jialin married Zhou Shiyuan, son of Septwolves' actual controller Zhou Yongwei, with Septwolves holding Bama Tea shares through Quanzhou Baiying; Wang Wenbin's son Wang Kunheng married the daughter of Anta Sports founder Ding Shichong, with Anta-affiliated enterprises having related transactions with Bama Tea including tea procurement and venue leasing; another daughter Wang Jiajia married into Jiangsu Gaoli Holding Group's heir family, and while this group doesn't hold direct stakes, it's also "tied" to Bama Tea through supply chain cooperation.

However, the IPO is just a new milestone, and Bama Tea's future still requires validation from markets and capital.