(Yicai Global) June 4 -- Pagoda Orchard Industrial Development is expected to become China's first publicly traded fruit retailer by the very difference that it is looking to go public abroad while its archival Xianfeng Fruit is preparing for a mainland listing.

Pagoda Orchard has filed with the China Securities Regulatory Commission on June 1 to issue shares overseas, the securities regulator said in a statement on its website, without disclosing the listing destination nor the fundraising target.

The Shenzhen-based firm told Beijing Business Today that it will later reveal such details.

Hangzhou-based Xianfeng Fruit, Pagoda's major rival backed by Sequoia Capital China, is looking to go public in the mainland after starting to talk with underwriters in April. Mainland listing procedures usually take longer than those overseas.

Founded in 2001, Pagoda Orchard finished its CNY400 million (USD56 million) Series A funding in 2015. The firm should go public within three to five years, said Feng Weidong, chief investment officer of Tiantu Capital, which led the funding round.

In 2018, Pagoda Orchard closed its CNY1.5 billion (USD210.6 million) Series B funding, participated by state-backed investment bank China International Capital, and Co-Stone Capital. Before that, the firm's valuation amounted to CNY8.5 billion, said Yu Huiyong, Pagoda’s founder and chairman.

The fruit vendor had more than 4,000 stores in over 80 Chinese cities as of last September. Its sales exceeded CNY12 billion (USD1.7 billion) last year.

Editor: Emmi Laine