With its precise positioning of "Tired and Sleepy? Drink EASTROC Special Drink" and a high value-for-money strategy, the company has deeply penetrated the blue-collar and mass consumer markets.
At 9:00 AM on February 3rd, EASTROC Beverage officially commenced trading on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited, with the stock code 09980.HK. This leading Chinese functional beverage company opened at its issue price of HKD 248 per share, with a total market capitalization of approximately HKD 110 billion.
The total number of shares offered globally was 40,889,900, raising a total of approximately HKD 10.1 billion. After deducting related expenses, the net proceeds amounted to approximately HKD 9.994 billion.
EASTROC Beverage's Hong Kong listing establishes a dual capital platform structure of "A+H" shares. The company had already received confirmation for the record-filing from the China Securities Regulatory Commission in December 2025, and this issuance involved no more than 66.44 million H shares. In terms of the offering structure, the Hong Kong public offering portion consisted of 4,089,000 shares, the international offering portion was 36,130,300 shares, with an additional 670,600 shares reserved for employees. The post-issuance market capitalization is estimated to be approximately HKD 166.393 billion.
After opening, the stock price performed steadily; as of the time of writing, the price was HKD 248.20, a slight increase of 0.08% compared to the issue price. However, it is noteworthy that reports on the market capitalization from different sources at the same time showed discrepancies, with some data indicating a total market cap of RMB 132.4 billion. This difference likely stems from variations in the calculation timing and methodology.
EASTROC Beverage's Hong Kong listing raised a total of approximately HKD 10.141 billion. After deducting listing expenses, the net proceeds amount to approximately HKD 9.994 billion. According to the company's plan, these funds will be primarily used for seven areas: capacity upgrades (36%), brand building (15%), overseas expansion (12%), channel deepening (11%), digitalization construction (10%), product development (6%), and working capital (10%). Particularly noteworthy is that overseas market expansion has become a key strategic direction. The company plans to use part of the raised funds to improve overseas market supply chain elements like warehousing, selectively extend upstream, and for overseas market channel development, brand promotion, and product development.
EASTROC Beverage is a leading company in China's functional beverage market, achieving a market share of 23% in 2024, ranking second in the industry. The company's products are available through 4.3 million terminal sales outlets, forming an extensive distribution network. The core product, "EASTROC Special Drink," generated revenue of RMB 13.3 billion in 2024, with a compound annual growth rate of 27.3% over the past three years. The company continues to advance its product diversification strategy, with EASTROC Special Drink and EASTROC Replenishment forming a dual-driver model. Revenue from electrolyte beverages in the first three quarters of 2025 increased by 134.8% year-on-year.
EASTROC Beverage was founded in 1994, and its development history is a classic "comeback" story. Relying on its core product "EASTROC Special Drink," the company successfully broke through in the functional beverage market dominated by Red Bull through precise positioning and a high value-for-money strategy, deeply penetrating the blue-collar and mass consumer markets.
Today, EASTROC Beverage has held the top position in sales volume in China's energy beverage market for four consecutive years. According to Nielsen data, EASTROC Special Drink's share of sales volume in the domestic energy beverage market further increased to 47.9% in 2024, with its value share reaching 34.9%. Its iconic 500ml golden bottle product has long been ranked among the top three single products in China's beverage market by sales.
However, the risk of over-reliance on a single category remains a market focus. To address this, the company has vigorously implemented a "1+6" multi-category strategy in recent years, aiming to build a more balanced growth curve. The "1" refers to the foundational energy drink "EASTROC Special Drink"; the "6" represents six potential categories under focused cultivation, including electrolyte beverages, coffee drinks, sugar-free tea, and plant-based protein beverages. This transformation is already showing initial results. Among them, the electrolyte beverage "EASTROC Replenishment" has performed most prominently, becoming a star product for the company's second growth curve.
In 2024, sales of "Replenishment" surged by 280%, rapidly growing into a multi-billion-yuan product. In the first half of 2025, its revenue grew by a remarkable 214% year-on-year, becoming one of the core drivers of the company's growth. Meanwhile, the company's national and international expansion is also deepening. In terms of production bases, the company operates 9 production bases nationwide with plans for 13, constructing an extensive supply chain network. On the sales side, the company distributes products to over 4.2 million terminal stores across the country through more than 3,200 distributors.
Particularly notable is the significant effect of its nationalization strategy; in 2025, markets outside Guangdong province contributed 56.94% of the company's total revenue, with strong growth seen in regional markets like North China. Regarding internationalization, products have been exported to 25 countries and regions globally, with Southeast Asia serving as the strategic bridgehead for its overseas expansion.
In recent years, EASTROC Beverage's performance can be described as a "top student" in the consumer goods industry, with revenue and profits sustaining rapid growth.
The growth rate of EASTROC Special Drink (energy beverages), which serves as the fundamental base, has noticeably slowed. In the third quarter of 2025, revenue from energy beverages grew by 15% year-on-year, marking the lowest growth rate in the past three years. This primarily stems from the fact that penetration rates in its core markets (such as its home base of Guangdong) are nearing saturation after years of cultivation. Analysis indicates that any soft drink single product commonly faces a growth slowdown after its scale surpasses RMB 20 billion.
In stark contrast, electrolyte beverages, represented by "Replenishment," are in a period of explosive growth. This category maintained a high growth rate of 84% in the third quarter of 2025, with its revenue share exceeding 20%. Market research suggests that this single product still has the potential to double or more in size in the future.
EASTROC Beverage's growth momentum is shifting from its base markets to peripheral markets. In the third quarter of 2025, revenue from the Guangdong region increased by a mere 2% year-on-year, while regions like North China maintained high growth exceeding 42%. The company is successfully tapping into new growth poles through channel refinement and a strategic northward shift.
Although changes in the product mix caused slight fluctuations in the gross profit margin, benefiting from operating leverage and expense control, the net profit margin remained stable and even increased slightly. In the first half of 2025, the company's net profit margin was 22.12%, a slight increase of 0.1 percentage points year-on-year.
According to disclosures in EASTROC Beverage's 2024 Annual Report and 2025 Interim Report, the company's shareholding structure is relatively concentrated, with founder Mr. Lin Muqin being the controlling shareholder and actual controller. Taking data from the end of the 2025 interim reporting period as an example, the shareholding situation of the top ten shareholders is as follows:
Lin Muqin: Directly holds a significant number of company shares and is the actual controller. Tianjin Junzheng Investment Management Partnership (Limited Partnership): Listed among the top ten shareholders. Shenzhen Kunpeng Investment Development Partnership (Limited Partnership): Listed among the top ten shareholders. The remaining shareholders include other natural persons (such as Lin Mugang, Lin Daiqin, etc.) and asset management plans.
The company's actual control is stable. Meanwhile, in preparation for the H-share issuance, the company convened a board meeting in July 2025, which reviewed and passed revisions to a series of internal governance systems, including the draft Articles of Association applicable after the listing, to comply with the HKEX listing rules.
EASTROC Beverage's management team has a distinct "founder-driven" characteristic, while also incorporating professional managers to improve corporate governance.
Lin Muqin, as the company's founder and chairman, is the soul of the company. Starting from grassroots levels, he has a profound understanding of the market and channels. The "encircling the cities from the countryside" and extreme value-for-money strategies he championed are core to EASTROC Special Drink's successful breakthrough. The senior management team also includes the President, Executive President, several Vice Presidents, the Chief Financial Officer, and the Board Secretary. This team has demonstrated strong execution capabilities in the process of the company's evolution from a regional brand to a national leader and in promoting the implementation of the "1+6" diversification strategy. The company's board of directors also includes independent directors to ensure standardized and transparent corporate governance.
According to the application materials previously submitted by EASTROC Beverage to the HKEX, the joint sponsors for this offering were Morgan Stanley Asia Limited, UBS Securities Hong Kong Limited, and Huatai Financial Holdings (Hong Kong) Limited.
Morgan Stanley and UBS are globally top-tier investment banks with extensive international investor networks and rich experience in overseas listings of Chinese companies; Huatai International, as a leading Chinese securities firm, has deep expertise in the rules and connectivity of the two capital markets.
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