Did the founding shareholders of Pop Mart liquidate their shares? Fengqiao Capital responded: The fund has reached its maturity, and we still believe in the company's bright future.
On May 7th, BORCHID CAPITAL posted an article on its official WeChat account, stating that "as the first-phase RMB fund of BORCHID CAPITAL is about to expire, BORCHID CAPITAL has cleared all the Pop Mart shares purchased before the company's listing through three block trades in the past week. From now on, the fund will no longer hold any Pop Mart stocks." This is also a direct response to the information about "investors selling Pop Mart shares through block trades multiple times" that has been hotly discussed in the capital market in the previous week.
It is understood that BORCHID CAPITAL sold its Pop Mart shares in three installments this time, totaling approximately 11.91 million shares, involving funds of about HK$2.2 billion. Tu Zheng, the founding partner of BORCHID CAPITAL, said, "From the first investment at the angel stage to the final sale, we have accompanied the company for a full 14 years. First in, last out. The process has been full of ups and downs and magnificent. We are extremely reluctant to part with it after sticking with it until now and are full of gratitude."
BORCHID CAPITAL pointed out that "after more than a decade of rapid development, Pop Mart has won wide recognition and respect from global users and investors with its innovative entertainment and cultural products, unique IP ecosystem, and performance far exceeding expectations. We firmly believe that on the journey of pursuing its big dream, the company will achieve greater glory."
Tu Zheng and the BORCHID CAPITAL he founded are early investors in Pop Mart. BORCHID CAPITAL is a boutique venture capital institution focusing on early and mid - stage new consumption and consumer technology innovation. In August 2019, BORCHID CAPITAL completed the fundraising of its first - phase fund of 410 million yuan. Before founding BORCHID CAPITAL, Tu Zheng had more than a decade of investment experience and once served as a partner of Qifu Capital. Tu Zheng participated in almost every round of financing (including five rounds of capital increase) of Pop Mart before its Pre - IPO. Among them, he made direct investments in four rounds and introduced all closely - cooperating investors in three critical rounds.
Tu Zheng once said in a public interview in 2020, "Pop Mart has the characteristics of a company that quietly germinates and accumulates energy on its own. It has great ambitions, is meticulous in thinking, has strong cohesion, dares to act, and has been keeping a low profile for years, just like a genuine BORCHID quietly blooming." He believes that Wang Ning may be one of the new generation of post - 85 leaders in China's offline retail. The Pop Mart he leads may reach a scale of billions of US dollars in 10 or 15 years. After meeting Wang Ning a few times, when Pop Mart only had three offline stores at that time, he quickly invested 7 million yuan and became the first institutional angel investor. In the following six years, he continued to increase his holdings many times and continued to invest after BORCHID was established at the end of 2018. "Pop Mart is the company with the most investment rounds in a single project in my personal investment career. I have directly or indirectly participated in almost every round of financing later." Along with the rapid development of Pop Mart in the globalization process, BORCHID CAPITAL has also received rich returns.
In recent years, the rapid development of international business has provided a strong growth engine for Pop Mart. In 2024, Pop Mart released its full - year financial report for 2024. In the past year, the group achieved a revenue of 13.04 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 106.9%, and an adjusted net profit of 3.4 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 185.9%. On April 14th, Pop Mart announced the launch of a comprehensive upgrade of its global organizational structure, focusing on regional strategies and setting up regional headquarters in the Greater China region, the Americas region, the Asia - Pacific region, and the Europe region. On April 22nd, Pop Mart International Group disclosed its Q1 business situation. The financial report showed that Pop Mart's Q1 revenue increased by 165% - 170% year - on - year. Among them, the revenue from the Chinese business increased by 95% - 100% year - on - year, and the revenue from overseas business increased by 475% - 480% year - on - year. Breaking it down by overseas regions, the Americas region had the fastest growth rate, followed by the Europe region. Europe and the Americas have become new performance explosion points after the Asia - Pacific market.
Recently, the release of the new LABUBU 3.0 products of Pop Mart has caused long queues at global stores, driving a new explosion in Pop Mart's overseas business. Qimai data shows that on April 25th, the official Pop Mart app topped the shopping list on the US APP STORE. This is also the first time the official app has topped the shopping list. At the same time, the Pop Mart app jumped 114 places in one day and quickly became the fourth on the free overall list. On April 24th, the super - popular IP LABUBU under Pop Mart launched its third - generation vinyl plush products, the "High - Energy Ahead" series, globally. The product launch triggered a global rush to buy, driving the Pop Mart app to top the list for the first time.
As a globally leading trendy culture and entertainment group, Pop Mart takes IP as the core, builds a full - link creative incubation and operation platform for global creators, and provides consumers with attractive products, services, and wonderful entertainment experiences. Currently, Pop Mart has opened more than 550 offline stores and more than 2,300 robot stores in more than 30 countries and regions around the world, and reaches more than 90 countries and regions globally through multiple cross - border e - commerce platforms.
Morgan Stanley said in a recent research report that the plush keychains launched by Pop Mart are leading a new trend and may open up a larger market than the "collectibles" market. The craze for various toys has made Pop Mart the hottest growth - type company, with its stock price rising by nearly 400% in 2024. It has also outperformed global peers such as The Walt Disney Company and Sanrio Co., Ltd., the parent company of Hello Kitty. Public information shows that more than 20 investment banks have given a "buy" rating in the past three months, demonstrating the high recognition of the company's development prospects by the capital market.