The personal care brand BANMU HUATIAN, endorsed by Sun Yingsha, has launched a surprise IPO application in Hong Kong. On the evening of January 16, the main entity of the local beauty and personal care brand BANMU HUATIAN—Shandong Huawutang Cosmetics Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "BANMU HUATIAN")—submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with CITIC Securities acting as its sole sponsor. The BANMU HUATIAN brand was founded in 2010 by Qi Yunji and his wife, Shang Ximei, both natives of Shandong. Leveraging its base in Jinan, known as the "Land of Roses," BANMU HUATIAN primarily focuses on personal care and beauty products utilizing botanical ingredients. In 2012, the brand launched its first body lotion; it subsequently expanded into body scrubs, facial cleansing mousses, and haircare products. According to the prospectus citing Frost & Sullivan data, based on 2024 retail sales, BANMU HUATIAN is the leading domestic brand for body lotion, body scrub, and facial cleansing mousse. As of September 30 last year, cumulative sales of its Whitening Body Lotion and Floral Essence Series Shampoo each exceeded 8 million bottles. Over the past few years, capitalizing on celebrity endorsements and the rise of content-driven e-commerce, BANMU HUATIAN rapidly ascended to become a leader in its niche segment. However, as it charges towards the capital markets, the company now faces intense competition from emerging players in the domestic personal care sector, signaling an inevitable tough battle ahead. BANMU HUATIAN, which submitted its application on January 16, completed its corporate restructuring into a joint-stock company and renamed itself Shandong Huawutang Cosmetics Co., Ltd. in December last year. The timeline indicates a notably accelerated IPO process. As a "couple-owned" enterprise, BANMU HUATIAN's ownership structure is relatively straightforward. In 2018, BANMU HUATIAN registered as a limited liability company, wholly owned by the couple Qi Yunji and Shang Ximei. Between November 2020 and August 2025, the couple executed several rounds of capital increases through multiple employee stock ownership platforms, including Zhuhai Kunze. In December 2025, BANMU HUATIAN converted into a joint-stock company. Post-conversion, Qi Yunji directly holds 25.05% of the company's shares, while the remaining over 70% are held by various employee stock ownership platforms. The prospectus reveals that in January of this year, just before submitting the application, BANMU HUATIAN swiftly completed two funding rounds. Furthermore, on the day before submission (January 15), a shareholders' meeting resolution was passed to subdivide each share with a nominal value of 1 yuan into 5 shares with a nominal value of 0.2 yuan each. Institutions participating in the Series A round included Suqian Huatai, Nanjing Huatai, Discounter Seed HK, Qingdao Maoda, and Wenzhou Yuanfei Yizhan. This round involved backing from listed companies such as Huatai Securities (06886.HK), Phoenix Publishing & Media (601928.SH), Marubi Biotechnology (603983.SH), and Yuanfei Pet Products (001222.SZ). Discounter Seed HK is linked to Qicheng Capital, whose portfolio companies like October Fields (09676.HK), Guoquan Shihui (02517.HK), and FOREST CABIN (02657.HK) have all successfully listed on capital markets within the last two years. In the same month, Shanghai Fangjiaoshi Management Consulting Co., Ltd. completed a Series A+ round investment in BANMU HUATIAN at a cost of nearly 5 million yuan. Tianyancha information indicates that this company is backed by Sun Laichun, the founder of the FOREST CABIN brand. As of the application date, the couple and the company's employee stock ownership platforms directly or indirectly control over 85% of the voting rights. Currently, traditional personal care brands are largely mired in intense competition and challenges related to channel transformation. In contrast, as a new-generation brand, BANMU HUATIAN's strong growth trajectory is likely a key reason it has attracted significant interest from prominent investors. Compared to established A-listed personal care and beauty enterprises like Lafang Jahwa and Shanghai Jahwa, BANMU HUATIAN's business model is distinctly different. The prospectus shows that the brand's rise is heavily reliant on e-commerce channels, with online channel revenue consistently exceeding 70% of total sales; it only began selling through offline channels in 2021. According to media reports, as early as 2017, BANMU HUATIAN's annual sales first surpassed 100 million yuan, and it has since repeatedly topped category rankings on major e-commerce platforms like Tmall and Douyin. It is noted that likely due to its online-heavy channel strategy, BANMU HUATIAN excels at leveraging popular celebrity endorsements for key products or categories to capture market traffic, demonstrating substantial investment in celebrity marketing. In 2019, the brand invited Guan Xiaotong to endorse its body scrub and body soap; in 2020, Ju Jingyi became the endorser for a specific scrub product; in 2021, Yang Yang was appointed as the brand ambassador for body care; and from 2024 to 2025, BANMU HUATIAN successively announced Dilraba Dilmurat and Sun Yingsha as endorsers for its body care and haircare products, respectively. Benefiting from the growth红利 of content-driven e-commerce channels and amplified by the influence of celebrity endorsements, BANMU HUATIAN emerged as a dark horse in the personal care sector. Disclosures in the prospectus indicate that from 2023 to 2024, BANMU HUATIAN's revenue increased from approximately 1.199 billion yuan to 1.499 billion yuan; in the first nine months of 2025, revenue further grew to about 1.895 billion yuan. Net profit attributable to the parent company also rose from 20 million yuan in 2023 to 50 million yuan in 2024; in the first nine months of 2025, this profit reached 125 million yuan. However, BANMU HUATIAN's performance growth is closely tied to its marketing and promotional efforts. Comparing the first nine months of 2024 to the same period in 2025, revenue increased from 1.072 billion yuan to 1.895 billion yuan, while marketing and promotion expenses surged from 461 million yuan to 833 million yuan. Notably, compared to traditional mass-market personal care brands, BANMU HUATIAN's products are not cheap. Listings on the brand's Tmall flagship store show that a 500g bottle of its Floral Essence Series Shampoo is priced at 89.9 yuan before discounts on e-commerce platforms; a 400g bottle of shower gel is priced at 49.9 yuan before discounts. For comparison, a 400g bottle of Dove shower gel (under Unilever) is priced at 39.9 yuan pre-discount, while a 470g bottle of Lux fragrant shampoo from the same group is priced at 44.9 yuan pre-discount. Maintaining this pricing level presents significant competitive challenges for BANMU HUATIAN. Beyond traditional foreign giants like Procter & Gamble and Unilever, the domestic personal care赛道 has welcomed several formidable new players. Within the domestic brand阵营, Off&Relax, incubated by leading local beauty company Proya, saw its revenue more than double year-on-year to 279 million yuan in the first half of 2025; Bloomage Biotech also launched the haircare brand Sansen Wanwu; Juyi Group (parent company of Judydoll) successively took over the Chinese operations of Rene Furterer and acquired the Italian haircare brand Foltène; Inoherb's three-year plan also outlined ambitions to build its Yizé and Hanshu haircare lines into super brands. Additionally, emerging brands like Yujian and Fuyu Manpu have also secured funding within the past year. BANMU HUATIAN clearly states in its prospectus that it will focus investments on channel development, product marketing and brand building, R&D capability enhancement, and talent team expansion. It also plans to initiate overseas market expansion, starting with Southeast Asia. Nevertheless, facing fierce future competition in the sector, while leveraging capital for continued expansion, BANMU HUATIAN will also need to respond more nimbly to market shifts and carefully manage its cost structure.
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