Shenzhen Transsion Holdings Aims for $500M Hong Kong Share Offering

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 October 7 to 12, 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.