China's top pig breeder Muyuan Foods targets $1.7b via Hong Kong listing

China's biggest pig breeder Muyuan Foods is seeking to raise up to HK$10.68 billion (S$1.73 billion) through a Hong Kong listing, according to an exchange filing on Thursday (Jan 29).

The company, already listed on China's Shenzhen bourse, is offering 274 million shares at an offer price capped at HK$39 per Share.

Final pricing is slated for Feb 5, with shares set to debut on the Hong Kong exchange the following day.

Cornerstone shareholders led by Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Foods and Singapore's Wilmar International will buy about US$684.45 million worth of shares, accounting for nearly half of the transaction, the filings showed.

In April 2025, Muyuan said it was pursuing a Hong Kong listing to deepen its globalisation strategy.

The filing said the share sales proceeds will be used to invest in research and development across areas such as breeding, smart farming, nutrition management and biosecurity, as well as for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Muyuan's offering would add to Hong Kong's pipeline of mainland Chinese listings in the city, alongside deals such as snack retailer Busy Ming, which saw shares jump 69 per cent in its trading debut on Wednesday.

Hong Kong topped global IPO fundraising in 2025, with companies raising about US$37.2 billion (S$46.9 billion) from 115 new listings, according to LSEG data.

The listing comes after Muyuan in 2023 terminated plans to issue global depositary receipts in Switzerland, citing changes in external and internal conditions, according to a filing at the time.

Muyuan traces its origins to an initial pig farm launched in the mid-1990s and was established as a company in 2000, according to its draft prospectus filed previously.

The company describes itself as a vertically integrated pork producer spanning pig breeding and farming, feed production, slaughtering and meat products.

Muyuan has ranked first globally in hog farming by production capacity and hog sales volume for four consecutive years since 2021, with its global market share by hog sales volume rising from 2.6 per cent in 2021 to 5.6 per cent in 2024, the prospectus said, citing consultancy Frost & Sullivan.

Revenue in the nine months ended Sept 30, 2025 rose 15.5 per cent to 111.79 billion Chinese yuan (S$20.32 billion) from 96.78 billion yuan a year earlier, while net profit climbed 34.4 per cent to 15.11 billion yuan from 11.25 billion yuan.

Muyuan said on Jan 15 that it expected its 2025 full-year profit to decline between 12.2 per cent and 17.8 per cent from a year earlier.

China, the world's top pork consumer, continues to grapple with a pork glut as output surged after swine fever, while demand softened during a slowing economy, dragging prices lower and squeezing farmers' margins.

Muyuan expects to report a consolidated net profit for 2025 of no less than 15.1 billion yuan, the filing showed.

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