(Yicai Global) May 21 -- China's Nayuki Holdings has refuted a media report that claimed the fast-growing fruit tea chain has passed its listing hearing in Hong Kong.

Nayuki is waiting to learn about its hearing arrangements, Sina Finance reported, citing the Shenzhen-based company.

The firm "hopes that it can pass the hearing at the end of this month or early next month and complete the listing in the first half of this year,” a person close to the firm told Sina Finance.

Tencent News yesterday reported that the hearing took place yesterday and that the seller of hot and cold tea beverages chose its cornerstone investors.

Established in 2015, Nayuki has quickly expanded to operate more than 420 tea outlets in China and Japan as of September 2020. In February, the company filed its prospectus to float its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The tea chain may have a valuation of CNY35 billion to CNY40 billion (USD6.2 billion), an institutional source who participated in the roadshow said to Sina Finance. After its latest funding round last December, it was valued at USD2 billion.

The bourse operator and the China Securities Regulatory Commission are relatively unfamiliar with the emerging tea industry, said an analyst in Hong Kong. Hence, the pioneering company is expected to be probed rigorously. "Even if it is benchmarked against Starbucks, it can only refer to Starbucks' years of initial development in China.”

The Covid-10 pandemic slowed Nayuki's quick growth. Revenue climbed 20 percent to CNY2.1 billion (USD326.3 million) in the first nine months of last year from a year earlier. In 2019, the firm managed to narrow its net loss to CNY39.7 million (USD6.2 million) from the CNY69.7 million logged in 2018.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi