(Yicai Global) Oct. 16 -- Shares of Miniso Group Holding, a leading Chinese discount retailer backed by Tencent Holdings, gained on their first trading day in New York.

Miniso [NYSE: MNSO] skyrocketed as much as 20 percent on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday before closing 4.4 percent higher at USD20.88. The Guangzhou-based company now has a market capitalization of USD6.35 billion.

Formed in 2013, fast-growing Miniso sells branded lifestyle and home goods -- such as stationery, cosmetics, snacks, small electronics and personal care items -- from 2,500 stores in China and 1,680 in more than 80 other countries and regions. It has partnered with Japanese Sanrio’s Hello Kitty and the US Marvel Worldwide and The Walt Disney Company to launch co-branded goods.

“The greatest core competitiveness that Miniso boasts is the great price-performance ratio and high frequency of goods renewal,” founder Ye Guofu said at the listing ceremony.

Miniso banked USD608 million, 14 percent more than expected, after pricing the sale of 30.4 million shares at USD20 each, above the USD16.50 to USD18.50 marketed range, Renaissance Capital said in a statement yesterday.

The proceeds of the initial public offering will mainly go to expand Miniso’s global outlets and retail network, upgrade its warehousing and logistics networks and improve the firm’s digital operations, according to its prospectus.

The company had a gross profit of CNY2.73 billion (USD407.5 million) on revenue of CNY8.98 billion in the fiscal year ended June 30, the prospectus showed. Its gross merchandise volume hit CNY19 billion last year, according to research firm Frost & Sullivan.

Ye, who is also Miniso’s chairman and chief executive, owns 72.5 percent of the company and 82.2 percent of corresponding voting rights, while Executive Vice President Li Minxin has a 4.6 percent stake that confers 3 percent of voting rights post-IPO.

Private equity firm Hillhouse Capital Group and tech giant Tencent own a further 4.8 percent each for a 3.1 percent say after the two put CNY1 billion into Miniso in 2018.

Editor: Ben Armour