Haier may lead the Hong Kong IPO of COSMOPlat.
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The enthusiasm for going public in Hong Kong continues to rise.
Recently, media reported that Haier Smart Home (600690.SH) is considering or plans to spin off its IoT platform, COSMOPlat, for a Hong Kong IPO next year.
COSMOPlat refers to COSMOPlat IoT Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "COSMOPlat"), which is currently pursuing A-share IPO counseling.
As early as a year ago, COSMOPlat appointed CICC as its sponsor, registered its counseling records with the Shandong Securities Regulatory Bureau, and planned to sprint for an A-share IPO.
According to CICC's plan, COSMOPlat intended to complete IPO counseling by June this year, but so far there has been no new progress on its IPO.
Given this context, it seems reasonable for COSMOPlat to "abandon A-shares for Hong Kong."
However, strictly speaking, it is difficult to define COSMOPlat’s listing as a spin-off operation of Haier Smart Home.
Haier Smart Home is the second-largest shareholder of COSMOPlat, holding a 9.7% stake.
COSMOPlat's actual controlling shareholder is Haier COSMOPlat Digital Technology Development Co., Ltd., indirectly controlled by Haier Group, holding a 49.11% stake.
On the night of October 21, Xinfeng also sought verification from Haier Group regarding the authenticity of the market rumors.
“Currently, COSMOPlat’s preparations for listing are progressing according to the established plan. There is no other major progress or relevant information that should be disclosed at this time. COSMOPlat will formally launch the listing process at an appropriate time based on its own development needs and changes in the capital market environment. For subsequent relevant information, please refer to the company’s official announcements and information disclosed by regulatory agencies,” Haier Group responded to Xinfeng.
As rumors of COSMOPlat going public in Hong Kong grow, previous speculation about its integration with Estun Automation (002527.SZ) may now be unlikely to materialize.
In February this year, Haier acquired control of Estun Automation through its subsidiary Qingdao Haier COSMOPlat Industrial Intelligence Co., Ltd.
Estun Automation is the first domestic company to develop and apply integrated drive-control products for robot control, and has accumulated significant experience in the industrial robot industry chain.
In July this year, a relevant Haier executive pointed out during an interview that Estun Automation has deep technological expertise in industrial automation hardware, which can enhance Haier COSMOPlat’s capabilities in independent hardware R&D and production, forming a complementary ecosystem of software and hardware.
For this reason, there was market speculation that if COSMOPlat’s A-share IPO process was not successful, it might instead integrate with Estun Automation.
In response to this speculation, Haier Group told Xinfeng at the time: "COSMOPlat is currently in the IPO counseling stage. The company is being managed and operated in a standardized manner according to the requirements of personnel independence, business independence, financial independence, and management independence for IPO companies."
Whether COSMOPlat will choose to go public in Hong Kong is attracting attention.
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