Muyuan Foods, the world’s largest pig breeder, debuted on the HKEX main board on 6 February, raising HKD10.68 billion (USD1.36 billion), which marks the company’s successful transition to an A+H dual?listing structure, following its SZSE IPO in 2014. Fangda Partners, Clifford Chance, King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) and Kirkland & Ellis provided legal services.
Headquartered in Nanyang, Henan province, Muyuan Foods is often referred to as the “Pig King of Henan”. According to Frost & Sullivan, based on production capacity and sales volume of pigs, Muyuan has ranked first globally among pig farming enterprises since 2021. In 2024, its pig sales volume accounted for 5.6% of the global market.
The IPO comprised a global offering of around 274 million H shares at HKD39 each, with 10% allocated to the Hong Kong public and the rest to the international offering, giving the company a market capitalisation of more than HKD220 billion. Morgan Stanley, CITIC Securities and Goldman Sachs acted as joint sponsors.
Fangda advised Muyuan Foods on PRC law and data compliance. Partners Wu Dong, Liu Lu and Wang Yingjie led the Fangda team. Partners Gil Zhang and Li Huihui led the data compliance team. Clifford Chance advised on Hong Kong and US law, with the transaction team jointly led by China practice chair Tim Wang, as well as partners Jean Thio and Virginia Lee, alongside counsel Liang Wei from the Beijing office.
For the joint sponsors and underwriters, KWM counselled on PRC law, with the team led by partners Gong Mulong, Liu Feng, Huang Xiaoxue, Lu Yong and Yang Wei. Kirkland & Ellis acted as Hong Kong and US legal adviser, with the team jointly led by partners Lu Mengyu, Brian Ho, George Zheng, Ryan Choi and Wu Qingyu.
The prospectus states that Muyuan Foods plans to allocate 60% of the IPO proceeds to overseas market expansion and 30% to technological innovation across its industry chain. The company identified Southeast Asia as a market with significant growth potential. Its largest cornerstone investor in the offering was Thailand’s largest conglomerate, Charoen Pokphand Group, which committed USD200 million.
