China’s Transsion, Africa’s top phone maker, targets US$500 million Hong Kong listing

Shenzhen Transsion Holdings, the maker of Africa’s bestselling phones, aims to kick off its Hong Kong share offering on Wednesday to raise up to US$500 million ahead of a targeted October 15 listing, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company, which already trades in Shanghai and has a market capitalisation of 62 billion yuan (US$9.24 billion), could offer up to 132 million offshore ordinary shares, according to approval documents from the China Securities Regulatory Commission for the planned listing.

The public offering will run from Wednesday to Monday, with trading expected to begin on October 15, while the fundraising target is half the amount the company reportedly sought last year, the sources said.

Founded in 2013, Transsion leads the African mobile phone market. Its three brands – Tecno, Infinix and iTel – sold more than 91 million handsets last year and captured 53 per cent of the regional market share, according to the company’s regulatory filings.

The Shenzhen-based company has expanded into other markets such as Latin America and Southeast Asia, though its brands have no presence in the firm’s home market.

The budget-phone maker has also faced growing challenges in recent years, including intensifying competition in Africa from rivals such as Xiaomi and Oppo. Rising chip procurement costs have also forced the company to raise retail prices.

Transsion’s annual revenue fell 4 per cent to 65.5 billion yuan last year, while profit plunged 53 per cent to 2.6 billion yuan, according to the company’s filings.

Despite a rebound in revenue and earnings in the first half of this year, its Shanghai-listed shares were still down about 70 per cent from their 2021 peak and have fallen 16 per cent this year.

Citic Securities is the sole sponsor for the Hong Kong listing, according to the company’s prospectus.