Eldest daughter takes over, but doesn't hold a majority stake: Anyou Bio, a feed company with billions in assets, attempts IPO for the third time.

The pig cycle failed to stop companies in the industry chain from knocking on the door of the capital market.

Recently, Anyou Biotechnology Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Anyou Biotechnology") disclosed its first round of audit inquiry responses, continuing to promote its IPO on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Main Board, and plans to raise approximately RMB 810 million to invest in projects such as feed production, digital construction and R&D center.

Anyou Biotechnology's flagship product is pig starter feed. In 2025, its revenue reached 10.133 billion yuan, with a net profit attributable to the parent company of 251 million yuan during the same period.

Despite its billions in revenue, AnYou Bio's IPO has not been smooth sailing.

As early as 2016, AnYou Bio submitted its application for listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's main board, but it was rejected in 2018. In 2023, it switched its listing application to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's main board. However, during its second attempt, its founder, Hong Ping, passed away due to illness in March 2024, after which the company voluntarily withdrew its listing application.

In June 2026, Anyou Bio submitted its IPO application again, marking its third attempt in ten years.

After a two-year hiatus, AnYou Bio has relisted and completed a partial redistribution of family shares. The shares held by Hong Ping before his death were mainly inherited by his wife, Su Meili, and their two daughters, Hong Wanling and Hong Yifen.

New governance variables have also emerged.

The eldest daughter, Hung Wan-ling, serves as the chairperson of An-You Biotechnology. The agreement on concerted action further clarifies that if family members cannot reach a consensus, Hung Wan-ling's decision shall prevail.

However, Hong Wanling does not have a clear shareholding advantage. Her younger brother, Hong Fuyou, who does not hold any senior management positions at Anyou Biotechnology, and his two daughters together hold more equity than Hong Wanling.

The fact that the management's control does not overlap with the distribution of family shareholding raises the question of whether the current arrangements can be maintained in the long term, a matter of concern after succession.

Meanwhile, the business recovery is not yet complete. Affected by the pig cycle, AnYou Bio's revenue in 2025 has not yet returned to the level of 2023.

Entering 2026, pork prices remained low. Although there was a seasonal improvement in end-user demand, the support for prices was still limited, and this pressure may continue to be transmitted to feed companies.

With its third attempt to enter the capital market, AnYou Bio still has many questions to answer.

The successor does not have a dominant shareholding.

After Hong Ping's passing, the division of labor in Anyou Biotechnology's operations gradually became clearer.

Born in 1982, Hong Wanling serves as the chairperson. She joined the company in 2012 and has served as president's assistant, chairman's assistant, director of the president's office, and director. Hong Yifen, who is one year younger than her, has long worked in the technology system and became chief technology officer in 2024. Her mother, Su Meili, continues to serve as a director and vice general manager.

Regarding the identification of the actual controllers, Anyou Biotechnology continued the arrangement of joint family control, with Hong Wanling, Su Meili, Hong Yifen, and Hong Fuyou identified as the joint actual controllers.

To prevent infighting among the actual controllers, all parties agreed that if they could not reach a consensus internally, they would vote according to Hong Wanling's wishes.

This gave Hung Wan-ling, as the chairperson, a dominant position in business decision-making within the framework of joint family control.

However, upon closer examination of the shareholding structure, there is another, less obvious aspect to this succession.

Unlike his mother and two older sisters, Hung Fu-yu, who is also the actual controller, did not appear on the list of directors and senior management disclosed in the prospectus, even though he holds a significant position in the family's shareholding.

The Hong family wholly owns Funeng Investment, which in turn holds 50.26% of the shares in Anyou China. Through Anyou China, Funeng holds 34.77% of the shares in Anyou Bio, thus indirectly controlling Anyou Bio.

Shareholding structure diagram of the Hong family controlling AnYou Biotechnology

In the equity structure of Funeng Investment, Hung Fu-yu himself holds 15% of the shares, and his two daughters, Hung Tzu-yu and Hung Tzu-min, each hold 7%, totaling 29% (collectively referred to as the "Hung Fu-yu family").

In comparison, the two older sisters, Hung Wan-ling and Hung Yi-fen, each hold 24% of the shares, while their mother, Su Mei-li, holds 23%, all lower than Hung Fu-yu's family.

This means that Hong Fuyou, who does not hold any board or senior management positions in the company, controls a higher percentage of shares in the family's core shareholding platform than Hong Wanling, who is in charge of operations.

What's even more intriguing is that the shares registered under the names of Hung Fu-yu's two daughters, Hung Tzu-yu and Hung Tzu-min, both originated from a previous gift from Su Mei-li.

In March 2023, based on considerations such as family property planning and tax planning, Su Meili donated 14% of the shares of Funeng Investment to Hong Ziyou and Hong Zimin free of charge, with each of them receiving 7%.

It was this gift that enabled Hung Fu-yu and his two daughters to hold more shares than any other member of the family.

If Su Meili were to transfer all of her 23% stake in Funeng Investment to Hong Fuyou in the future, and with the shareholdings of others remaining unchanged, Hong Fuyou and his two daughters would hold a combined 52% stake, exceeding the combined 48% held by his two older sisters.

At that time, the distribution of equity in the family's core shareholding platform will be further concentrated in Hong Fuyou's favor.

Although this is only a scenario simulation, there is currently no publicly available information indicating that Su Meili has any such transfer plan. A change in shareholding does not necessarily mean that Hong Wanling will automatically lose her position as chairman; this still needs to be determined in conjunction with the concerted action agreement, the company's articles of association, and relevant decision-making procedures.

However, this shareholding structure poses a challenge to the stability of AnYou Bio's operations and management: if family interests continue to concentrate in the hands of those not involved in day-to-day operations, how will the dominant position of the existing management team be maintained?

Equity binding with major clients

Besides family succession, Anyou Biotechnology also needs to adapt to changes in the downstream aquaculture industry.

Anyou Biotechnology's products are mainly feed, which are divided into four categories according to the feeding object: pig feed, poultry feed, aquatic feed, and ruminant feed. Among them, pig feed is the main source of income, accounting for 70-80% from 2023 to 2025.

This business has long relied on large-scale farms, small and medium-sized family farms, and farmers covered by distributors. In 2025, this customer group contributed more than 50% of the revenue.

Compared to large-scale livestock farming groups, these clients often lack independent feed research and development, formulation design, and bulk raw material procurement capabilities. Anyou Biotechnology provides them with more than just feed; it also includes feeding guidance, disease prevention and control, and related support services, thus enabling them to obtain a certain premium for their products and services.

However, these customers are simultaneously facing the pressures of the pig cycle and increased industry concentration.

According to the monitoring of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, from September 7 to 13, 2026, the national live pig price was 11.54 yuan/kg, a decrease of 0.4% compared with the previous period; the national average wholesale price of pork was 16.28 yuan/kg, a decrease of 17.4% year-on-year.

Low pork prices won't immediately reduce feed intake for pigs, but they will affect farmers' next round of restocking and cash flow. Once customers reduce their investment in pig farming, feed purchases will also shrink. Even if operations continue, the pressure to collect payments may be passed on to upstream suppliers.

On the other hand, the scale of domestic pig farming will increase from 49.1% in 2018 to about 70% in 2024, with leading pig companies gaining more market share, while the relative space of non-leading farming entities served by Anyou Biotechnology will be squeezed.

To this end, Anyou Biotechnology is continuing to strengthen its direct services to large-scale farms and small and medium-sized family farms, while also striving for orders from large-scale breeding groups to further expand its growth potential.

Wens Foodstuff Group is the most obvious example of this.

In early 2025, the two parties signed a strategic cooperation agreement to strengthen cooperation in areas such as capital and supply chain. Currently, Wens Foodstuff Group, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Wens Investment, holds 28.05% of the shares of AnYou Biotechnology, becoming its second-largest shareholder.

After the equity partnership, Wens Foodstuff Group's procurement scale grew rapidly. The amount of feed purchased by Wens Foodstuff Group from Anyou Biotechnology increased significantly from RMB 7.5697 million in 2024 to RMB 545 million in 2025, making it the largest customer.

However, under the pig cycle, Wens Foodstuff Group is also having a tough time, with a net loss of 4.398 billion yuan in the first half of 2026.

Moreover, this cooperative relationship is not very stable. Wens Foodstuff Group mainly meets its needs through its own feed production capacity. The reason for purchasing from outside is that the scale of breeding in some regions does not match the corresponding feed production capacity. In addition, considering the transportation radius, cross-regional transportation may not be economical. This leaves room for external suppliers such as Anyou Biotechnology.

Overall, the increased concentration in the downstream market is driving Anyou Biotech to further compete for major clients, but the integrated capabilities of these major clients are limiting the order space and pricing power of external suppliers like Anyou Biotech.

How to maintain revenue, profit, and bargaining power amidst changes in customer structure will be a longer-term challenge for Anyou Biotechnology.

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