E-Land plans to list its Chinese unit in Hong Kong by 2018 at the earliest in a bid to improve the group’s balance sheet health and expand its Chinese retail business, the company said Wednesday.

E-Land Group will hold a pre-initial public offering raising during the second of 2016 after merging its two Chinese units E-Land International Fashion Shanghai and E-Land Fashion Shanghai 


It is the first time that a Korean apparel firm is going public overseas. E-Land Group plans to choose a lead manager later next year to go public between 2018 and 2020.

The company is likely to get listed on Hong Kong’s bourse but it hasn’t ruled out Shanghai and Shenzen as options for IPO venues, the official said.

“Raising funds through the two subsidiaries which are highly competitive with vast growth potential will improve its financial structure and empower the retail business in China which is the group’s new growth engine,” an official at the group said.

Combined sales of the duo reached 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion) last year and their average annual growth rate stood at 19 percent over the past six years with more than 5,500 stores in major cities such as Shanghai and Beijing.

As a part of effort to improve its financial status, the group chose U.S. private equity giant KKR as the preferred bidder for Kim’s Club, a 37-branch hypermarket franchise with annual revenue of around 1 trillion won in March.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)