That popular snack brand known for its "Are you okay?" catchphrase has finally realized its dream of going public.
On the morning of June 15th, at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange bell-ringing ceremony, LIULIUMEI's founders, Mr. Yang Fan and his wife, stood center stage. Behind them, a group of senior executives and investors all raised their hands in a synchronized "6" gesture for the cameras, their smiles particularly radiant.
As soon as the gong sounded, LIULIUMEI shares surged 118% at the open. By the market close, the stock price settled at HK$128 per share, marking a staggering single-day gain of 193.71% and valuing the company at HK$10.09 billion.
Founders Yang Fan and his wife collectively hold approximately 75% of the company's shares. Based on this calculation, their combined personal wealth has skyrocketed to around HK$7.5 billion.
This moment was one the Yang couple had awaited for a full seven years.
As early as 2019, LIULIUMEI made its first attempt to list on the A-share market. It subsequently shuttled between the Shenzhen and Hong Kong exchanges, submitting applications four times, only to be met with rejection each time. Behind this journey lay the persistent pressure of massive valuation adjustment mechanisms.
For seven years, this pressure was a constant companion. Only today, with the sound of the gong, could the Yang couple finally breathe a sigh of relief.
However, the excitement belongs to the secondary market. Beneath the喧嚣lies another layer to the story: a sharp decline in sales of core products, slowing performance, shrinking gross margins, and significant pre-IPO dividend payouts by the founders.
LIULIUMEI's path to listing is far more complex than its casual catchphrase suggests.
Pre-IPO Windfall for the Founding Family
For LIULIUMEI, going public was not an option but a necessity.
Consider a telling timeline: on May 21, 2026, LIULIUMEI submitted its latest application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, received approval just five days later, initiated its public offering on June 5th, and was officially listed on June 15th. The上市speed was remarkably fast.
This rapid series of steps was driven by a critical deadline: June 30th.
Why this date? Because it represented the清算deadline stipulated in the valuation adjustment agreements.
Since 2019, LIULIUMEI has launched four IPO attempts over seven years, bouncing between mainland and Hong Kong markets, with each phase accompanied by a new set of valuation adjustment terms.
Starting with the Series A investment from Sequoia Capital, the company's fundraising history is almost a chronicle of these agreements—Series A, B, C1, C2, D1, D2—six funding rounds, six sets of terms.
Series A investor Sequoia Capital ultimately did not wait until the上市day. In June 2024, Sequoia formally exercised its redemption right. LIULIUMEI paid out principal of 135 million yuan plus interest of 126 million yuan, totaling 261 million yuan—an amount nearly equivalent to the company's total net profit for over two years.
Even more pressing were the terms attached to the Series D funding at the end of 2024: if an IPO was not completed before the end of 2025, Series D investors would have the right to demand repurchase. After two failed Hong Kong applications in 2025, a supplementary agreement signed in April 2026 extended the final deadline to June 30th.
The pressure from these agreements did not disappear. Failure to list would also trigger repurchase rights for Series B and C investors. In that scenario, founders Yang Fan and his wife would face a total potential repurchase liability of approximately 389 million yuan.
In essence, LIULIUMEI's上市journey was a race against time with significant financial triggers.
The pressure to list rested squarely on the shoulders of the Yang family.
The prospectus reveals a highly concentrated ownership structure. Prior to the listing, founder Yang Fan directly held 37.97%, his spouse Li Huimin directly held 4.37%, and through their wholly-owned investment vehicle Jurun Investment (holding 36.53%) and other related entities, the controlling shareholders collectively controlled approximately 87.77% of the company's equity.
In other words, this company bears the Yang family name.
The June 15th bell-ringing signifies that the financial pressure hanging over the Yang family has been temporarily alleviated.
It is noteworthy, however, that just before the上市, the Yang family implemented a substantial dividend payout.
On May 10, 2026, LIULIUMEI declared a dividend of 67.3 million yuan.
Effectively, on the eve of submitting final documents to regulators, the Yang family distributed virtually all available distributable cash from the company's accounts.
Pre-IPO dividends are not uncommon for companies planning to list. The key question is the size of this payout.
Based on the 2025 net profit of 182 million yuan, the 67.3 million yuan dividend represents 37% of the annual profit. This means nearly two-fifths of the year's earnings were paid out before the上市.
More importantly, the company's账上lacked sufficient cash to cover it. According to the prospectus, at the end of 2025, cash and cash equivalents stood at only 33.904 million yuan, less than half the dividend amount.
Implementing such a large dividend at a critical juncture, with valuation adjustment pressure looming and上市approval still uncertain, undoubtedly intensified the company's financial strain.
Slowing Sales for the "Plum King"
These developments are closely tied to a sudden deceleration in LIULIUMEI's operational performance.
In 2025, its revenue growth rate plummeted from 22.24% the previous year to just 5.86%, while net profit growth also slowed from 48.86% to 23.3%.
The core reason appears to be that the company's flagship products are losing momentum.
Its product structure is clear: dried plum snacks, prunes, and plum jelly are the three main pillars, contributing 48.5%, 22.2%, and 27.3% of 2025 revenue, respectively. Dried plum snacks, accounting for nearly half of sales, form the foundation, but this foundation is now showing cracks.
In 2025, revenue from dried plum snacks fell from 974 million yuan the previous year to 830 million yuan, a decline of approximately 14.8%.
As product sales weakened, channel transformation dealt another blow.
Over the past two years, LIULIUMEI significantly reduced its traditional distributor network. Revenue from distributors shrank from 882 million yuan in 2023 to 531 million yuan in 2025, with its contribution plunging from 66.7% to 31%.
This has been replaced by snack specialty stores. Revenue from this channel grew from 134 million yuan in 2023 to 648 million yuan in 2025, its share rising to 38%, making it the largest sales channel.
However, the cost of this transition has been sustained pressure on gross margins. Volume retail channels possess极强的bargaining power, diluting LIULIUMEI's pricing authority under this model.
Consequently, the company's consolidated gross margin has declined from 40.1% in 2023 to 36% in 2024, and further to 35.6% in 2025—a downward trend indicating持续eroding profitability.
Meanwhile, the marketing engine that once propelled its起飞is also showing signs of fatigue.
Starting in 2013 with actress Yang Mi's nationwide catchphrase "Are you okay?", LIULIUMEI hitched its wagon to celebrity endorsements. From Xiao Zhan and Teenage Team to Guan Xiaotong, the brand has cycled through generations of top stars, never missing a trend.
After over a decade on this marketing-driven path, the costs are evident. Selling and distribution expenses were 309 million yuan in 2023, 310 million yuan in 2024, and were compressed to 272 million yuan in 2025, still representing 15.9% of revenue. In each of these years, marketing spend exceeded同期net profit.
The issue is that despite the money spent and the stars hired, the performance returns have not been commensurate.
The marginal effectiveness of marketing is visibly diminishing, and LIULIUMEI appears yet to find its next strategic pivot.
This is not to say LIULIUMEI lacks competitive advantages.
According to data from Frost & Sullivan, the company ranked first in retail sales in China's fruit snack category in 2024, with a 4.9% market share. By this measure, it is indeed a细分龙头.
However, the combined market share of the top five companies in the fruit snack industry is only 14.5%. Beneath the "number one"光环of LIULIUMEI lies a reflection of the entire sector's highly fragmented nature and low barriers to entry, indicating异常激烈competition.
The moat is real, but the赛道itself may not accommodate grand, expansive ambitions.
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