Plunging by 66%, the "King of Strollers" is about to be delisted.
In 2026, the Hong Kong stock market witnessed one of the most poignant scenes in its history.
A leading domestic brand that has topped the global rankings for many consecutive years has decided to bid farewell to the capital market.
Recently, major news has emerged in the maternal, infant and child track: Goodbaby International, a Hong Kong-listed company known as the "King of Strollers" that covers more than 110 countries and regions around the world and serves hundreds of millions of parents, plans to delist via privatization. According to Goodbaby's announcement, the 77-year-old founder Song Zhenghuan plans to make a privatization offer to acquire all publicly held shares of Goodbaby for a maximum of HK$1.322 billion, at a 39% premium to the secondary market price. No one expected that Goodbaby, which has long dominated global stroller sales, is about to exit the Hong Kong stock market.
Different from some companies that are forced to delist due to fraud, Goodbaby is taking the initiative to delist. This very fact makes it one of the most thought-provoking cases in the Hong Kong stock market. Back in the 1990s, Goodbaby already ranked first in domestic stroller sales. Led by Song Zhenghuan, the legendary founder who transitioned from vice principal of a middle school to entrepreneurship, Goodbaby expanded rapidly across the United States and Europe, and stood at the global top at a very early stage.
In 2010, Goodbaby launched its IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with an over-subscription ratio of 1,493 times. The capital market held extremely high expectations for the company, and its market value reached HK$6.7 billion in the year of listing. However, as the number of newborns continuously fell short of expectations, the capital that once chased hot tracks soon showed its ruthless side. Even though Goodbaby still ranked first globally, the capital market turned a blind eye to it, slashing its valuation and market expectations for 16 consecutive years.
Over the past 16 years, Goodbaby's stock price has plummeted by 66% cumulatively, with a current market value of about HK$2.3 billion. After years of such suppression, the 77-year-old Song Zhenghuan has become completely clear-headed. He has seen through the truth of the capital market, and the privatization move is more like a smart strategic withdrawal.
I
Goodbaby, the true global leader in the stroller industry, no longer wants to put on a smiley face for the capital market.
In 2026, the global AI boom has driven a large number of companies crazy. They are desperate to "tell stories, hype concepts, and chase traffic", flocking to the capital market all at once, as if every one of them is the "global number one" in their niche field. On the contrary, the real global number one is thinking about how to "run away" from the capital market. This in itself is very thought-provoking, even a bit absurd and ironic.
The story of Goodbaby, the global "King of Strollers", dates back to the 1980s. Back then, the school-run factory affiliated to Lujia Middle School in Kunshan, Jiangsu, was on the verge of collapse, barely surviving only by sporadic hardware OEM orders. Years of losses and poor operations left the factory with a huge debt of as high as 1.2 million yuan. It should be noted that 1.2 million yuan in the 1980s was a "catastrophic disaster" at the debt level.
At the critical moment of the factory, Song Zhenghuan, who was then the vice principal of the middle school, was forced to take over the crisis. He had no business experience, no knowledge of the manufacturing industry, and no accumulated industry resources. It is absurd enough for an educator to suddenly go and save a factory that is about to close down. Perhaps it is the unique sense of responsibility of educators that made Song Zhenghuan "abandon education for business", and he taught himself management, sales and technology.
He brought the earnest attitude of "teaching and educating people" into his work, starting from scratch, training workers, and docking market orders, barely maintaining the normal operation of the factory. In 1989, Song Zhenghuan, who already loved children, came up with an idea one day: he designed a four-in-one multifunctional baby stroller. According to records, this is the first four-in-one multifunctional baby stroller in China, integrating the functions of pushing, lying flat, swinging and sitting upright. With this casual "inspiration", he filled the domestic product gap in multifunctional baby strollers.
It is said that this four-in-one multifunctional baby stroller was targeted by capital as soon as it took shape. A businessman came to the door and was willing to pay 150,000 yuan to buy out the patent right. As long as Song Zhenghuan agreed, he would no longer have to stick to the "mess" of the factory and become rich immediately. Faced with this huge temptation, Song Zhenghuan refused. The pressure from capital instead inspired his determination to make the factory bigger and stronger.
He wanted to build a brand that he could run for a lifetime, a strong brand, a "Goodbaby".
II
In 1991, Goodbaby's strollers became a bestseller, and he led the employees to pay off all the huge historical debts.
He spent another two years making an amazing leap in the history of the stroller industry, ranking first in domestic sales. Yes, defeating foreign-funded enterprises and reaching the top of the domestic market in just two years, Goodbaby is truly worthy of its name. But the legendary life of Song Zhenghuan has just kicked off.
In the 1990s, Goodbaby's strollers became widely popular, and a large number of counterfeit brands appeared on the market. Song Zhenghuan established the core development path of "self-iteration and continuous innovation", he did not follow the trend to cut prices, and paid more attention to product quality and quality control. While stabilizing the domestic market, Song Zhenghuan came up with a bolder idea: "If foreign brands can enter the Chinese market, why can't Chinese enterprises seize the US market?"
Indeed, this idea was really bold in the 1990s. At that stage, foreign brands dominated the market, and local brands in many domestic fields could barely survive, let alone expand overseas to compete with them. Song Zhenghuan was very confident, he thought, "Americans are human beings, they are parents when they have children. As parents, they will give the best to their children, and every parent hopes their children can be good kids and become successful."
The idea is always beautiful, but the reality is not. At first, Song Zhenghuan planned to set up an overseas subsidiary in New York, USA to sell Goodbaby strollers directly. But the rules of the US market poured cold water on him. To win over American parents, he had to get access to American supermarkets first. Song Zhenghuan came up with a clever idea: "First export products, R&D and patents, and use the channels and reputation of local American brands to gradually build a good reputation for Chinese brands." This clever strategy is called OPM in modern terms: Goodbaby is responsible for production, and the partner is responsible for sales.
He found a local American brand that was on the verge of bankruptcy to cooperate with, and spent three years making this brand called COSCO rank first in stroller sales in the United States, shocking North America. In 2002, Fortune published a seven-page report describing the "miraculous" Chinese company behind COSCO, calling Goodbaby a real "business legend", which made the Goodbaby brand quickly become popular all over the world.
Song Zhenghuan became famous overnight. After capturing the US market, Goodbaby's entry into Europe was exceptionally smooth. It took the company only four years to become the top seller in Europe. By then, Goodbaby had already become the well-deserved leader of the global stroller industry, the "King of Strollers". Expanding market footprint is a good thing but also brings troubles, the company needs sufficient capital. After careful consideration, he thought of IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which also fits Goodbaby's globalization strategy.
What will be the outcome when a founder who dislikes dealing with capital enters the capital market? It's hard to say.
III
In 2010, Goodbaby completed its Hong Kong IPO, with an over-subscription ratio of 1,493 times, causing a sensation in the Hong Kong stock market.
It became the "over-subscription king" of the Hong Kong stock market that year, and Goodbaby lived up to expectations with a market value of HK$6.7 billion in that year. But the most poignant scene also came: no matter how hard Song Zhenghuan and Goodbaby worked afterwards, "the capital market is just weird, they only vote with their feet."
In 2014, Song Zhenghuan, who did not understand the rules of the capital market, completed two overseas M&A deals that shocked the industry. It invested 70 million euros to acquire CYBEX, a high-end European maternal and infant brand; then spent 140 million US dollars to acquire Evenflo, a century-old American maternal and infant brand.
Normally, for other industries, completing two such overseas M&A deals would have pushed the stock price up sharply. But Goodbaby seemed to have run out of luck.
Crucially, these two M&A deals changed Goodbaby's underlying logic, transforming it from an OPM OEM to a global brand operator. Nothing worked to please the capital market. The objective market change is the continuous decline of the newborn population. Some views hold that "the maternal and child travel track is a strongly cyclical sector completely tied to the number of newborns. Once the cycle goes downward, even with good performance, capital is unwilling to buy in."
When the cycle went downward, Goodbaby's operating performance did not decline, but fluctuated repeatedly. In 2016, the company's revenue was HK$6.238 billion; the net profit attributable to owners of the parent company was HK$207 million. In 2020, the company's revenue was HK$8.305 billion; the net profit attributable to owners of the parent company was HK$257 million. In 2025, the company's revenue was HK$8.659 billion; the net profit attributable to owners of the parent company was HK$257 million. In the first half of 2026, the company's revenue was HK$4.551 billion; the net profit attributable to owners of the parent company was HK$275 million. By 2026, Goodbaby's net profit has achieved substantial growth.
In terms of market share, statistics from the authoritative agency Euromonitor show that "Goodbaby accounts for about 12.3% of the global baby stroller market, ranking first in the world." According to previous data from Frost & Sullivan, "about 1 in every 2.9 baby strollers comes from the Goodbaby system."
Even with the top market share and stable performance, it still does not work. Hong Kong stock market capital values the cyclical logic. Just like Mixue Bingcheng, which saw its performance surge but failed multiple IPO attempts before, capital does not recognize its value when the cycle is not favorable, making it extremely difficult for "Snow King" to go public. When the cycle turns favorable and capital recognizes it, "Snow King" raises funds at a record high. Therefore, no matter how strong Goodbaby's product power is or how high its market share is, it cannot change the capital logic of the Hong Kong stock market at all, which has nothing to do with the quality of the company.
If stock prices rise simply when performance is good, there would be "stock market gods" everywhere in the world. After 16 years of listing, Song Zhenghuan, who felt powerless in the capital market, should have figured it out. This legendary founder is still starting a business at the age of 77. He has seen through the essence of the capital market. But since its listing, he and Goodbaby have never catered to the preferences of capital. The privatization and delisting plan he came up with this time is both a self-rescue and a relief.
Or it is an extremely clear-headed and "smart" strategic choice. Over the 16 years in the Hong Kong stock market, Goodbaby has lived in contradiction and torment. Its operation has not encountered any major risks, its brand matrix is complete, its global channels are stable, its R&D system is sound, and its profitability is stable despite fluctuations. Such a company still has to accept the "interrogation" of the market, be harvested by the cycle, be tossed around by capital, and bear the label of trapping retail investors.
Retail investors have also suffered a lot. This time, Song Zhenghuan plans to make a privatization offer to acquire all publicly held shares at a maximum of HK$1.322 billion, with a 39% premium, which can be regarded as a help to the trapped retail investors. After leaving the capital market, "Goodbaby no longer needs to look at other people's faces, and can live for itself."
This article is from the WeChat Official Account "The Investor", written by Yun Fan, authorized for release by 36Kr.