(Bloomberg) -- Topsports International Holdings Ltd., the private equity-backed Chinese sportswear retailer, plans to seek Hong Kong stock exchange approval next week for its initial public offering, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The company, which is a unit of women's shoe retailer Belle International Holdings Ltd., plans to sell shares in September if it passes the listing hearing, according to the people. It may seek to raise about $1 billion from the offering, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
Topsports will be one of the first major companies to test the Hong Kong IPO market in September with protests still roiling the city. Shanghai Henlius Biotech Inc., an arm of billionaire Guo Guangchang's Fosun International Ltd., has been gauging investor demand in recent days for a planned IPO that could raise at least $600 million.
The deals will add to the $10.6 billion raised in Hong Kong IPOs this year, data compiled by Bloomberg show. A Hong Kong-based external representative for Topsports declined to comment.
Topsports sells brands including Adidas, Nike and Puma in China. Private equity firms Hillhouse Capital and CDH Investments took its parent company, Belle, private in a $6.8 billion deal in 2017.
Bank of America Corp. and Morgan Stanley are joint sponsors of the Topsports IPO.
To contact the reporters on this story: Crystal Tse in Hong Kong at ctse44@bloomberg.net;Vinicy Chan in New York at vchan91@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fion Li at fli59@bloomberg.net, Ben Scent, Amy Thomson
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