Haier may take the lead in the listing of Kaos in Hong Kong

The enthusiasm for listing in Hong Kong continues to rise.

Recently, media reports indicated that Haier Smart Home (600690.SH) is considering spinning off its Internet of Things platform, Kaos, for a Hong Kong listing next year.

Kaos is the Kaos IoT Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Kaos"), which is currently advancing its A-share IPO guidance.

As early as a year ago, Kaos hired China International Capital Corporation (CICC) as its sponsor and has filed for guidance with the Shandong Securities Regulatory Bureau, aiming to push for an A-share IPO.

According to CICC's plan, Kaos intended to complete its IPO guidance by June this year, but so far, there has been no new progress on its IPO.

In this context, Kaos's "abandoning A-shares for Hong Kong" seems reasonable.

However, strictly speaking, Kaos's listing cannot be defined as a spin-off operation of Haier Smart Home.

Haier Smart Home is the second-largest shareholder of Kaos, holding a 9.7% stake.

The actual controlling shareholder of Kaos is Haier Kaos Digital Technology Development Co., Ltd., which is indirectly controlled by Haier Group, holding a 49.11% stake.

On the evening of October 21, Xinfeng also sought to verify the authenticity of market rumors with Haier Group.

"Currently, the preparation work for Kaos's listing is progressing according to the established plan, and there are no other significant developments or related information that should be disclosed. Kaos will initiate the formal listing process at an appropriate time based on its own development needs and changes in the capital market environment. For subsequent relevant information, please refer to the company's official announcements and disclosures from regulatory agencies," Haier Group responded to Xinfeng.

As the news of Kaos's Hong Kong listing begins to circulate, previous speculation about its integration with New Times (002527.SZ) may be difficult to realize.

In February of this year, Haier, through its subsidiary Qingdao Haier Kaos Industrial Intelligence Co., Ltd., took control of New Times.

New Times is the first company in China to complete the research and development of integrated drive-control products for use in robot control, with a relatively rich accumulation in the industrial robot industry chain.

In July of this year, a relevant person from Haier pointed out in an interview that New Times has a deep technical accumulation in the field of industrial automation hardware technology, which can enhance Haier Kaos's capabilities in independent research and development and production of hardware equipment for its industrial Internet platform, forming a complementary ecosystem of software and hardware.

Because of this, there was previous market speculation that if Kaos's A-share IPO process did not go smoothly, it might turn to integrate with New Times.

Regarding this market speculation, Haier Group previously responded to Xinfeng: "Kaos is currently in the IPO guidance stage, and the company is conducting standardized management and operations for IPO enterprises according to the requirements of personnel independence, business independence, financial independence, and management independence."

Whether Kaos will choose to list in Hong Kong is currently under attention