Shares of China's largest bubble tea and drinks chain Mixue Group jumped nearly 30 percent on their first day of trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday after the firm raised HK$444 million in an initial public offering (IPO).

Mixue sold 17 million shares in the deal at a fixed price of HK$202.50 each.

The shares started trading at HK$262 each and the gains outpaced a 0.8 percent rise in Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index.

Retail investors subscribed for 5,258 times more shares than were on offer in that tranche, according to Mixue's filings, making it one of Hong Kong's most popular ever IPOs.

The retail subscription rate was just below Bloks Group whose retail book was 6,000 times oversubscribed, a record, in its January IPO.

The institutional tranche of the deal was 35 times covered, the filings showed.

Mixue is often seen as China's largest chain of iced drinks, milk tea and ice cream. However, it operates more like a raw-material supplier than a traditional beverage brand.

Founded in 1997 as a small ice shop in Zhengzhou, Henan province, Mixue has grown into a franchise giant with over 45,000 stores globally by September 2024, surpassing Starbucks' 40,576 stores worldwide. (Reuters)