Hong Kong wine merchant Wine’s Link gets HKEX listing

Hong Kong wine merchant Wine’s Link raised approximately HK$30 million by placing 34.8 million shares on the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (HKEX) on 12 January, becoming the latest local wine merchant to get listed.

(From left to right:) Shirley Wong, CEO of Wine’s Link, Yeung Chi Hung, Wine’s Link chairman and non-executive director, and Roy Ting, senior vice president of Public Relations of Wine’s Link, strike the ceremonial gong at the listing ceremony at HKEX.

The company’s share on the listing day closed at HK$0.8 per share, a 6.7% increase relative to the offer price of HK$0.75 per share.

The GEM – similar to London’s Alternative Investment Market and has lower listing requirements than Hong Kong’s Main Board – has been a popular listing platform for small to medium cap companies to access public funding to finance growth.

At the moment, companies that are listed on the GEM can move up to the Main Board if they can demonstrate three years of profitability.

Asked by dbHK about the reason behind the public listing, Shirley Wong, CEO of Wine’s Link, commented: “I’ve long had a passion to promote Hong Kong as Asia’s wine hub and see it become a world leader on par with France & the UK. Being listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has enabled Wine’s Link to acquire the funding and resources to enrich our portfolio of fine wine along with our infrastructure and launch our company as an international entity.”

Founded in 2007, Wine’s Link engages in the wholesale and retail of wines and other alcoholic beverages with a particular focus on premium wines. According to the company, it was ranked Hong Kong’s sixth biggest wine merchant by value in 2016.

As of June last year, the group’s wine product portfolio spanned approximately 63 vintages from over 10 countries including Australia, Chile, France, Italy and the US. The company also provides a multitude of wine related services covering wine consultation service, wine sourcing service, wine delivery service and wine storage service.

Among Hong Kong’s wine merchants, Madison Wines was listed in 2015 on HKEX as well.