(Yicai Global) Sept. 8 -- Nongfu Spring, China's leader in the bottled water business, gained 54 percent in its Hong Kong debut today, making the firm’s founder one of the richest people in the country.

Nongfu Spring [HKG:09633] closed at HKD33.10 (USD4.55), after soaring as much as 85 percentat the open. The stock’s initial offering price was HKD21.50, below an anticipatedrange of HKD23 to HKD30.

With a market capitalization of HKD370.3 billion, the Hangzhou-based company is worth more than Bank of Communications, one of China’s biggest lenders,China National Offshore Oil, one of its largest oil and gas majors,andVanke, its largest real estate developer.

Based on the closing prices of two businesses that founder and ChairmanZhong Shanshan has stakes in -- Nongfu Spring andBeijing Wantai Biological Pharma Enterprise[SHA: 603392] --his wealth now stands at about HKD385.3 billion (USD49.7 billion), ranking him as China’s richest man after Pony Ma, founder of Tencent Holdings, and Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group Holding.

Zhong set up the company in 1996 andowns 87.5 percent of its shares, according to the prospectus. He will hold on to about 84.4 percent post-IPO.

Nongfu Spring raised as much as HKD8.15 billion (USD1.05 billion) from its listing, making it one of the biggest IPOs in Hong Kong so far this year. A quarter of the funds will go to brand building, according to its IPO prospectus, while 25 percent will be used to buy equipment such as refrigerators. Some 20 percent will be allocated to boosting production. The remainder will be used to repay bank loans.

The cornerstone institutional investors were Fidelity International, Coatue Management, Government of Singapore Investment, Japan's Orix Asia and two Chinese investors.

NongfuSpringhas had the largest share in China's packaged drinking water market for eight straight years, according to its prospectus. Its shares stood at 21 percent last year. The firm’s tea and energy drinks are in third place, with a more than 7 percent market share. China's soft drinkers swallowed CNY991.4 billion worth last year, according to a Frost & Sullivan report. Compound annual growth is forecast to stay at 5.9 percent from this year to 2024.

The company had revenue of CNY17.5 billion (USD2.52 billion), CNY20.5 billion and CNY24 billion from 2017 to last year. Net profit was CNY3.39 billion (USD490.4 million), CNY3.61 billion and CNY4.95 billion in the same period. The Covid-19 pandemic lopped 12.6 percent off revenue and 18.2 percent off net profit In the first five months of this year.

Editor: Ben Armour