(Yicai) Oct. 22 -- The Hong Kong initial public offering of Hive Box Holdings, a Chinese parcel locker operator backed by SF Express, has been stalled for more than a year due to a dispute and ensuing lawsuit filed by investor Asia Forge Capital over a share repurchase agreement, sources told Yicai.

Hive Box, 36.5 percent owned by SF Express founder Wang Wei, filed its IPO prospectus with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in August last year. The document lapsed this February after the company failed to submit supplementary materials within the required period, and it has not updated its filing since.

An industry insider said Asia Forge Capital and Hive Box were unable to reach an agreement after multiple rounds of negotiation on the redemption clause embedded in a 2021 investment deal. Hive Box raised USD400 million that year from several investors, including Asia Forge Cayman, an entity under Asia Forge Capital. The agreement granted shareholders the right to redeem their shares if Hive Box failed to list by Jan. 27, 2025.

According to Hive Box’s August 2024 prospectus, the firm planned to extend the redemption deadline to Jan. 31, 2027, by paying about USD80 million. However, Asia Forge Capital did not agree to the extension and subsequently filed a lawsuit in Hong Kong, though no related case information has yet appeared on the Hong Kong court’s website.

A representative at Asia Forge Capital declined to comment when reached by Yicai, and calls to Hive Box went unanswered.

A lawyer who requested anonymity said a listed company’s shareholding structure must be clear and stable. If there is a lawsuit involving share repurchases, the current shareholder list and ownership ratios may be subject to change, and the HKEX cannot proceed with a review based on a potentially fluid equity structure, the lawyer noted.

Even aside from the lawsuit, Hive Box faces difficulties with its IPO. The company reported cumulative losses exceeding CNY3.7 billion (USD519.5 million) between 2021 and 2023, mainly due to heavy spending on building its smart locker network. In October 2024, the China Securities Regulatory Commission asked Hive Box to provide additional explanations on its Variable Interest Entity structure and business compliance, but the firm did not complete the disclosure within the specified timeframe.

Editor: Emmi Laine