Jiahua invests 300 million yuan, and Chando is planning an IPO.

Jiahua Capital has made a significant investment.

Investment community sources revealed that Chando Group, a beauty brand headquartered in Shanghai, has just completed a new round of financing. Jiahua Capital invested 300 million RMB, and global beauty giant L'Oréal also participated. The post - investment valuation of this round exceeded 7 billion RMB. Thus, a domestic beauty unicorn was born.

Recalling more than 20 years ago, Zheng Chunying quit his civil servant job in his hometown in Northeast China and came to Shanghai to start Chando. Later, he made a name for himself in the beauty industry. The slogan "You are naturally beautiful" was particularly well - known. The prospectus shows that Chando has risen to become the third - largest domestic cosmetics group in China, with an annual revenue of over 4.5 billion RMB.

Jiahua Capital's move is, to some extent, a sign of the recovery of consumer investment. As Song Xiangqian, the founding partner and chairman of Jiahua Capital, has repeatedly emphasized: "Consumption has natural anti - cyclical properties. It is the optimal investment track for resource allocation and is also the stabilizer and ballast stone of the Chinese economy."

A New Beauty Unicorn is Born, Jiahua Capital Invests

As far as I remember, this should be the first time Chando has opened up for financing since its establishment.

With the submission of the prospectus of Chando Global Holdings Limited (hereinafter referred to as "Chando Holdings") to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, more details have emerged. This time, Chando Holdings introduced a round of financing with a total amount of over 700 million RMB.

Meiting entered into a share subscription agreement with Chando on October 23, 2024, and supplemented it on September 8, 2025. Accordingly, Meiting subscribed for 7,026,459 shares at approximately 58 RMB per share, with a total consideration of 409 million RMB. In September this year, Meiting purchased 531,023 shares at a price of 63 RMB per share, with a total consideration of 33.45 million RMB. The cumulative investment of 442 million RMB was irrevocably settled on September 26, 2025.

On September 16, 2025, Himalaya International entered into an investment agreement with the company. Accordingly, Himalaya International subscribed for 4,761,905 shares at approximately 63 RMB per share, with a consideration of 300 million RMB, which was irrevocably settled on September 25, 2025.

Among them, Himalaya International is backed by Jiahua Capital, and Meiting is wholly - owned by L'Oréal. The two major investors hold 4.20% and 6.67% of the shares of Chando Holdings respectively before the listing. Based on this calculation, the post - investment valuation of Chando Holdings in this round is 7.14 billion RMB, making it a newly - born domestic beauty unicorn.

Jiahua Capital is well - known in the Chinese consumer investment circle. Founded in 2007, Jiahua Capital has a cumulative management scale of over 30 billion RMB. Since its establishment, it has been deeply rooted in the consumer industry and has invested in a circle of national brands that cover all aspects of the lives of ordinary Chinese consumers. Its investments include well - known enterprises such as Jinmailang, Xiaocaiyuan, Dongpeng Beverage, Qiaqia Foods, Laiyifen, Xiaoguan Tea, Aimer, Babi Foods, Laoxiangji, Wenheyou, Taikang, Juran Home, Meitu, Meituan, and Didi Chuxing. It is said to have tapped into "80% of the needs of 80% of consumers".

Jiahua Capital has been planning this investment in Chando for many years. The investment community learned that as early as 2021, Jiahua Capital launched an in - depth research on Chando Group and formed a team of professionals from multiple fields such as business, finance, and law. They provided pre - investment empowerment in aspects such as strategic planning and organizational construction, for example, assisting the company in building a comprehensive budget management system centered on ROE (Return on Equity).

During that period, the Jiahua team attended Chando's monthly business analysis meetings, identified opportunities for quality improvement and efficiency enhancement with the internal team, and helped the company build an analysis framework to improve digital decision - making ability. Focusing on the investment and growth of the company's DTC channels, Jiahua Capital helped Chando improve investment efficiency by introducing advanced industry methodologies, learning from industry best practices, and improving data quality.

With the empowerment of Jiahua Capital, Chando has completed the key process of digital transformation, and the initial results are showing. Now, Chando Holdings has established an effective DTC channel, with online sales accounting for 68.8%. Especially in the content e - commerce channel, which is growing the fastest in the industry, its performance is quite impressive.

Jiahua Capital always positions itself as a "co - creator" fighting side by side with enterprises. This concept has been put into practice again with Chando. Based on its in - depth understanding of the industry, Jiahua Capital has formulated a detailed five - year strategic plan for Chando. With this strategic investment of 300 million RMB, Jiahua Capital said that in the future, it will rely on its post - investment empowerment system and resources established in the consumer field to continue to provide all - around support for Chando Group's listing and subsequent development.

A Northeast Family in the Beauty Business is Heading for IPO

Chando's rise is also a story of entrepreneurial success of a Northeast Chinese family.

Zheng Chunying was born in a rural family in Liaoyang, Northeast China. In his early years, he was admitted to Dongbei University of Finance and Economics as the second - ranked liberal arts student in Liaoyang City. After graduation, he joined the Liaoyang Finance Bureau and became a civil servant, which was envied by others. In 1996, during the wave of starting businesses, he resolutely quit this "iron rice bowl" and started his business venture.

By chance, Zheng Chunying got in touch with the beauty salon industry and discovered business opportunities. He left his hometown and opened a beauty salon in Shenyang. After achieving some success, he left Shenyang and went to Shanghai alone with his dreams.

When he first arrived in Shanghai, Zheng Chunying almost visited major shopping malls every day to observe cosmetic brands. He noticed that in department stores, the most important sales channel, almost all the brands were foreign brands, while most domestic brands were in the corners.

Witnessing this scene, he was deeply shocked: "It's a matter of great shame for Chinese men that foreign brands have monopolized the beauty market for Chinese women. I must create a world - class cosmetics brand of our own."

Thus, Chando, a natural science and technology - based beauty brand inspired by the Himalayas, was born in 2001. It also launched "Maysee", a high - end anti - aging science - based beauty brand. Under Zheng Chunying's leadership, Chando developed at an amazing speed, and the slogan "You are naturally beautiful" spread widely.

In the following years, Chando Holdings also launched "Biorrier", a skin - care brand for sensitive skin, "Spring & Summer", a science - based anti - photo - aging brand, and "imine", a brand focusing on scientific skin care for infants and children. In terms of retail sales, Chando Holdings was the third - largest domestic cosmetics group in China in 2024.

With Chando's plan to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the outside world can get a glimpse of its revenue situation. The prospectus shows that from 2022 to 2024, Chando Holdings' revenues were 4.292 billion RMB, 4.442 billion RMB, and 4.601 billion RMB respectively; the net profits were 139 million RMB, 302 million RMB, and 190 million RMB respectively; and the gross profit margins were 66.5%, 67.8%, and 69.4% respectively.

It cannot be ignored that "Chando" has always been the cornerstone of the group's brand portfolio, contributing about 95% of the group's revenue.

Looking at the management of Chando Holdings, the Zheng family emerges. The eldest brother, Zheng Chunying, is the CEO, executive director, and chairman. The second and third brothers, Zheng Chunbin and Zheng Chunwei, are executive directors, responsible for formulating the company's overall business plans, strategies, and major decisions. The youngest sister, Zheng Xiaodan, is a non - executive director, participating in formulating the group's business plans, strategies, and major decisions through the board of directors. The four siblings together hold about 87.82% of the voting rights of Chando Holdings.

If everything goes smoothly, the four siblings may stand on the stage of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for the IPO bell - ringing ceremony together.

Chinese Consumer Investment: A Long - Term and Profitable Track

This is an underestimated super - track.

CBNData shows that the market share of domestic beauty brands reached about 55.2% in 2024, occupying half of the market. However, the market concentration of the top five brands is still in the single - digit range, far from that of mature markets in Europe and the United States. This indicates that the industry is at a critical stage of moving from "group rise" to "leading brand concentration".

In Jiahua Capital's view, despite the pressure on the macro - economy, the human need for "beauty and self - pleasure" remains a rigid demand. For the mass market, rational consumption has become the mainstream, and consumers' demand for "high - quality and affordable" products is increasing. As domestic beauty enterprises grow from big to strong, a world - class beauty group will surely emerge in the Chinese market.

As we can see, besides Chando, more domestic beauty brands are queuing up for IPOs.

Currently, the recovery of consumption is becoming more and more obvious, especially the bustling scene of consumer stocks in the Hong Kong stock market. The "Three Sisters in the Hong Kong Stock Market" composed of Pop Mart, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea, and Lao Pu Gold led a wave of sharp rises in consumer stocks.

Witnessing this scene, investors unanimously expressed the view that after the previous slump in the secondary market, the consumer sector is entering a period of valuation repair, especially in the Hong Kong stock market. This change also reveals the deep - seated changes in the consumption structure: emotional consumption, cost - effective consumption, and brands with strong product power are continuously winning the market.

Looking back on the past few years, domestic consumer investment has gone through a long winter. But there are still those who have persevered in the consumer field and are now seeing the dawn.

Song Xiangqian, leading Jiahua Capital to be deeply involved in the Chinese consumer market, has never wavered. He believes that from a macro perspective, the transformation of the Chinese economy cannot be achieved without the driving force of consumption. Among the three major drivers of the economy, consumption is the most stable ballast stone. Secondly, China is the world's largest single market, and the needs of 1.4 billion people for food, clothing, housing, and transportation form a huge and rigid demand pool.

"The 'rigid + high - frequency + people's livelihood' track in China is broad enough and the cycle is long enough. It is a typical long - term and profitable super - track. No matter how the economic situation fluctuates, people still need to eat and wear. These basic people's livelihood needs are irreplaceable."

More importantly, the consumer industry has always been considered to have rigid and anti - cyclical properties, so it is more popular with capital during economic fluctuations. From the development history of the stock markets in the United States and Japan, we can see that consumer enterprises are more likely to become long - distance champions.

"These enterprises are not affected by sharp market fluctuations and can maintain stable growth during the economic downturn. They are the most scarce'stable assets' in the era of financial speculation and the optimal investment track for resource allocation." Song Xiangqian further explained.

After the noise fades away, at this moment, the Chinese consumer market is quiet but full of vitality. This may be the best state for consumer investment.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Investment Community" (ID: pedaily2012), author: Zhou Jiali. It is published by 36Kr with permission.