TWG holding V3 Group to launch Hong Kong IPO

V3 Group, which owns brands such as Osim and TWG Tea, has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on the main board of Hong Kong’s stock exchange.

V3 Brands Asia, an investment holding company wholly owned by V3 Group – made an application to the Hong Kong Exchange for a global offering on Monday (Feb 28).

The application proof redacted pricing details, the size of the offering, and the number of shares up for grabs.

Osim listed on the Singapore Exchange in 2000, but delisted in 2016 when its founder, Mr Ron Sim, took the company private.

Mr Sim lamented then that the stock had not been fairly valued due to a lack of financial depth and liquidity in the Singapore market.

In 2018, he shelved plans for V3’s Hong Kong listing, letting its application lapse, amid intense volatility and weakness in the global stock market.

Monday’s application to the Hong Kong bourse comes after the lifestyle products group posted a surge in profit for the nine months ended Sept 30 last year. Profit after tax for the period stood at $72.7 million, 2.5 times the $28.7 million recorded in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 32.8 percent to $332.8 million, from $250.6 million previously.

For the full year ended Dec 31, 2020, revenue was 15.6 percent higher year on year at $377.8 million, from $326.9 million in the financial year 2019. Profit after tax stood at $43.4 million, 58.9 percent higher than $27.3 million in the year-ago period.

V3’s higher revenue during the two years ended Dec 31, 2020, and nine months ended Sept 30, 2021, was attributed to higher sales due to increased consumer demand for lifestyle and wellness products, targeted marketing and sales activities, and the success of blockbuster products.

V3 owns the Osim brand, known for its massage chairs and relaxation products, luxury tea brand TWG Tea, nutritional supplement retailer ONI Global and Futuristic – a Singapore-headquartered manufacturer of store fixtures.

Mr Sim opened his first store in Singapore in 1983 and later in Hong Kong in 1986. The company also expanded to Taiwan and Malaysia before officially launching the Osim brand name in 1993 and entering China.