Multiple Hong Kong-listed companies have recently initiated privatization and delisting. After veteran baby products leader Goodbaby International Holdings Limited (HK: 01086) announced its privatization and delisting plan, long-established Hong Kong-listed enterprise Maoye International Holdings Limited (HK: 00848) also disclosed a privatization and withdrawal of listing status announcement on the evening of September 29, becoming the second Hong Kong-listed company to voluntarily seek delisting within a single week.
Monthly statistics from Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) show that, as of August 31, 2026, a total of 31 companies have completed delisting from the Hong Kong stock market during the year, including 23 from the Main Board and 8 from the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM). The delisted companies span multiple sectors including consumer, real estate, finance, and services, covering well-known listed enterprises such as Hang Seng Bank, Minmetals Land, and Jinke Services, as well as a number of small and mid-cap targets. A combination of factors 鈥?including voluntary privatization and delisting, weak business performance, prolonged share price slumps, and failure to meet compliance standards 鈥?has jointly driven up the number of delistings in Hong Kong this year, as the market's survival-of-the-fittest mechanism continues to deepen.
On September 27, Goodbaby International Holdings Limited (HK: 01086) officially issued a privatization announcement. The company proposed to privatize the company by way of a scheme of arrangement and withdraw its listing status from HKEX. The cash cancellation price per share for this privatization was set at HK$1.5, representing a premium of 38.89% over the company's closing price of HK$1.08 on September 25, providing shareholders with a clear exit premium.
Goodbaby International Holdings Limited (HK: 01086) listed on the HKEX Main Board in 2010. At the time of its listing, it won high recognition from the capital markets by virtue of its absolute industry leadership position. With a comprehensive matrix of baby travel products and mature domestic and overseas sales channels, it was hailed by the market as the "King of Strollers." However, since 2018, the company's share price has entered a long-term downtrend. In the years that followed, the share price continued to hover at low levels, at one point falling to as low as HK$0.05, a substantial decline from its listing peak, with market capitalization greatly diminished, completely bidding farewell to its former glory.
Following closely behind Goodbaby International Holdings Limited (HK: 01086), long-established Hong Kong-listed enterprise Maoye International Holdings Limited (HK: 00848) announced its privatization, adding another case to this year's wave of Hong Kong delistings. On the evening of September 29, Maoye International Holdings Limited (HK: 00848) issued an announcement stating that the offeror, W.F Group Limited, intended to privatize the company by way of a scheme of arrangement and apply to withdraw the company's listing status. The privatization cancellation price was set at HK$0.208 per share, representing a premium of as much as 110.1% over the company's closing price of HK$0.099 before trading was suspended. The doubling premium attracted intense market attention. Driven by this major positive development, the company's shares surged upon resumption of trading on September 30, with gains approaching 88% at the highest point and remaining above 80%, as market capitalization rebounded sharply in the short term.
Maoye International Holdings Limited (HK: 00848), as a veteran enterprise that has been deeply involved in the capital markets for nearly 20 years, listed on the HKEX Main Board in 2008 and was among the early listed companies in China to pursue commercial real estate and retail department store businesses. The company's core business focuses on department store retail and commercial property operations, with operations covering multiple core cities across the country, engaging in the management of shopping malls and department stores, property leasing, and merchandise sales. During its peak period, leveraging the offline commercial dividend, it held a stable position as a regional commercial leader and was one of the representative targets in the commercial retail sector of the Hong Kong stock market.
Looking at operating data from the past three years, downward pressure on the industry has continued to weigh on the company's development, with performance showing a trend of fluctuating decline and a shift from profit to loss. In 2023, the company achieved operating revenue of RMB 4.181 billion, with a net loss attributable to shareholders of approximately RMB 34.74 million, already showing signs of pressure on the profit side. In 2024, revenue slightly declined to RMB 4.018 billion, with a net loss attributable to shareholders of approximately RMB 97.18 million, further widening the loss. In 2025, operating pressure intensified, with full-year revenue dropping to RMB 3.035 billion and net loss attributable to shareholders expanding to RMB 507 million, as revenue continued to contract and losses deepened. Entering 2026, the company's operating conditions have still not improved significantly, with first-half revenue of only RMB 1.320 billion and a net loss attributable to shareholders of approximately RMB 110 million. The sustained weak performance has kept the company's secondary market share price at low levels for an extended period, with liquidity continuously shrinking.
Against this backdrop, the company's choice of a high-premium privatization and delisting is both a response to the depressed secondary market valuation and a strategic decision made in light of industry trends and its own operating situation, marking that this veteran commercial enterprise, listed for nearly 20 years, is about to bid farewell to the Hong Kong capital market.
According to official monthly report data from HKEX, as of August 31, 2026, a cumulative 31 companies have completed delisting from the Hong Kong stock market during the year, with 23 from the Main Board and 8 from GEM, as the trend of delisting normalization in Hong Kong continues to emerge. For the full year of 2025, the number of delistings from the HKEX Main Board was 52, with 12 from GEM.
Looking at the 31 delisting cases during the year as a whole, they present a dual pattern of "voluntary privatization exits and passive compliance cleanups," with the two types of delisting scenarios having distinct characteristics. Among them, companies voluntarily applying to withdraw their listing status are mostly long-established listed companies that have been operating for many years. In addition to Goodbaby International Holdings Limited (HK: 01086) and Maoye International Holdings Limited (HK: 00848), which are currently advancing privatization, well-known enterprises such as Minmetals Land and Jinke Services have all exited through voluntary privatization and voluntary delisting. In addition, the delisting of Hang Seng Bank stemmed from its acquisition by HSBC, falling within the scope of routine capital operations by large enterprises.
Passively delisted companies, on the other hand, are mostly forcibly delisted for breaching the red lines of HKEX listing rules, with core reasons concentrated in compliance issues such as prolonged low share prices, continuous trading suspensions, financial non-compliance, information disclosure violations, and long-term insufficient market capitalization. Some small and mid-cap GEM targets were ultimately forcibly delisted by HKEX because their market capitalization remained below listing standards and trading had long dried up. Other companies were passively delisted after triggering delisting conditions due to issues such as consecutive years of losses, financial fraud, and compliance disclosure violations.
Industry analysts stated that the normalization of delisting in Hong Kong is a core manifestation of market maturity. As HKEX continues to optimize listing and delisting rules, inefficient and low-quality targets are accelerating their exit, and companies in declining traditional industries are voluntarily leaving, which will further optimize the overall target structure of the Hong Kong stock market and enhance the market's overall valuation quality and liquidity. In the future, the Hong Kong stock market will continue to present a "survival of the fittest" pattern, with high-quality emerging enterprises continuing to list and inject vitality, inefficient targets accelerating their exit, and market resources further concentrating toward core high-quality assets.
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