Another Billionaire Created by Hong Kong’s Latest Bubble Tea IPO

China’s unquenchable thirst for bubble tea has produced yet another billionaire.

Guming Holdings’ $233 million initial public offering in Hong Kong has raised the value of millennial founder Yun’an Wang’s stake to $1.1 billion, as highlighted by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The shares closed 6.4% lower than the listing price at HK$9.30 ($1.3), reducing initial advances.

Wang is now part of the expanding group of Chinese bubble tea billionaires emerging in recent years, driven by soaring demand for these beverages — a market valued at $9.6 billion in 2018 and projected to skyrocket to $71 billion within three years. However, he is launching his company publicly at a time when investors are growing cautious about investing in such a cutthroat industry, characterized by frequent price wars among vendors.

Take Sichuan Baicha Baidao Industrial, the producer of Chabaidao tea. It was the latest company to enter the Hong Kong market with a listing last April. Founders Wang Xiaokun and Liu Weihong, a husband-and-wife team, had a combined net worth of approximately $2.7 billion at their debut, but their fortune has since diminished as the stock price halved.

Despite this, Wang and his competitors continue to pursue funding to expand their already extensive networks of stores. For instance, industry frontrunner Mixue Group has renewed its IPO plans, with the founding brothers, Zhang Hongchao and Zhang Hongfu, each worth an estimated $1.5 billion as of April.

Wang and his team of underwriters, headed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc and UBS Group AG, are optimistic that Guming, selling tea under the “Good me” label, will attract investors with its distinct strategy. While many aim to profit in megacities like Beijing and Shanghai, the company focuses on smaller cities and towns, where bubble tea is less available and where growth is accelerating faster than in major urban areas, according to Guming.

He speaks from experience. Wang opened his first tea shop nearly 15 years ago in his hometown of Daxi, a small urban area with a population of under 200,000 located in Zhejiang province near Shanghai. Reports suggest that his shop struggled initially, sometimes bringing in barely 100 yuan ($14) per day — even after selling drinks to his co-founder.

Since that time, his tea chain has gained popularity and ventured further into China’s interior, accumulating nearly 10,000 stores. After navigating the intensely competitive environment, Wang’s brand became the second largest among freshly made bubble tea producers in terms of total sales and store count by the end of 2023, according to research mentioned in the IPO prospectus.

“Our primary focus remains on lower-tier cities, towns, and counties,” stated George Meng, Guming’s chief financial officer, during an interview with Bloomberg TV on Wednesday. “We’re not rushing to enter places like Beijing and Shanghai because many bubble tea shops are already established there.”

As of the end of 2023, Guming’s Good me commanded a market share of 9.1% among China’s top five bubble tea brands, following Mixue’s 20%, according to the same research.

The industry is “constantly filled with wild promotions,” remarked Wang in an interview with Southern Metropolis Daily in December 2023. “We have become accustomed to the price wars. Each year, a new bubble tea brand emerges.”

Wang, whose parents operated a small retail shop near the Myanmar border, earned a bachelor’s degree in material science and engineering in 2010 from Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, the same year he launched his first Good me outlet. As of September, the company is present in 17 provinces throughout China.

Originating in Taiwan as a sweet, high-calorie comfort beverage, bubble tea has undergone significant transformation on the Chinese mainland, with various brands competing to provide healthier alternatives such as tea lattes or freshly brewed iced tea infused with fruit compote or juice.

© 2025 Bloomberg

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