Author | Huang Yu Editor | Liu Baodan Last year, thanks to the success of the "Speeding" on iQiyi, the company has had a difficult time recently. On the one hand, the explosively popular TV series is on hiatus, and on the other hand, the derivative concert of the variety show "Plant Some Goodness" has been criticized for "free offline but paid online." According to Wall Street News, the second Wheat Field Music Festival, produced by iQiyi's reality show "Plant Some Goodness," was held on June 6th. Some viewers had previously received free offline tickets through official activities, while online viewers, even iQiyi members, had to pay RMB 12 for viewing, and the viewing period was valid until June 14th. This differentiated pricing model has caused dissatisfaction among many viewers, who question that iQiyi's move is "cutting corners." In response, iQiyi's customer service said, "You can buy tickets to watch the concert live according to your own needs, and the edited content of the concert will be launched on the main platform in the future." In fact, this is not the first time that long video platforms represented by iQiyi have been accused of "cutting corners." In recent years, membership grading systems, early access, and inventory restrictions have often caused user backlash, in addition to paying extra for derivative programs. The differential pricing model reflects the growth anxiety faced by long-form video platforms such as "i优腾."

In today's weather is good. Today's weather is good.

Midea Group's secondary listing in Hong Kong has finally made significant progress.

On July 23, the International Cooperation Department of the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued a notice of filing for Midea Group's overseas issuance and listing. This means that Midea Group has finally obtained the "main road" to the Hong Kong market, and after passing the hearing of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, it can IPO and become the second"A+H"listed home appliance giant after Haier.

Last August, Midea Group first announced that it would go public for a second time on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with a planned issuance scale of no more than 10% of the total shares after the completion of the issuance. In October of the same year, Midea Group submitted its first prospectus, but it became ineffective because it took more than 6 months to pass the hearing. However, shortly thereafter, on April 29 of this year, Midea Group submitted its prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for the second time.

According to the notice of filing, Midea Group plans to issue no more than 651 million shares of overseas listed ordinary shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, accounting for approximately 8.5% of the total share capital after the issuance.

Compared with other listed companies of AH shares in the industry, the discount rate of home appliance leaders listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is generally lower. The research report of gtja pointed out that as of the closing price on July 23, the discount rate of Haier Smart Home H shares was 17.3%, and the discount rate of Hisense Home Appliances H shares was 22.7%. In the 148 AH dual-listed companies, the discount rate was in the bottom 6 and 8 positions.

Analysts at gtja believe that Midea Group's H-share listing will provide quality consumer and manufacturing assets for the Hong Kong stock market, and it is expected that the market will prefer it with the same low discount rate.

Assuming a discount rate of about 17%, referring to Midea's A-share stock price of about RMB 60 per share, Midea Group's Hong Kong stock cumulative fundraising may reach RMB 32.4 billion, or become the largest IPO in Hong Kong stock this year.

It is worth noting that in the first half of this year, Chabaidao (02555.HK) was the company with the largest IPO financing scale on the Hong Kong stock market, but the first fundraising capital was only HKD 2.586 billion.

The reason for the second listing in Hong Kong given by Midea Group is: based on the need to deepen the global strategic layout.

According to the prospectus, Midea Group plans to use the proceeds of the IPO for global R&D investment, upgrading intelligent manufacturing systems and supply chain management, improving global distribution channels and sales networks, operational funds, and general corporate purposes.

However, fundraising seems to be not the primary purpose for Midea Group. At the 2023 annual shareholder meeting held in April this year, Midea Group executives responded to investors that going to the Hong Kong market was not for fundraising, but for the breakthrough, convenience, and speed of the Hong Kong market.

For Midea Group, the advantages of the second listing in Hong Kong may mainly come from two aspects, one is to expand overseas financing channels, and the other is to further open up international markets with the help of international capital. Of course, the ultimate goal is to promote offshore development.

Midea has set a goal of achieving overseas sales revenue of between US$35 billion and US$40 billion by 2027, but for now it is still climbing slowly.

Last year, Midea's overseas revenue was about RMB 150.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5.8%, lower than the domestic growth rate, accounting for about 40.56% of the total revenue, slightly less than in 2022.

While further increasing overseas income, Midea also needs to further improve the global brand value. According to Wall Street News, part of Midea's overseas revenue comes from OEM and part of it comes from OBM. Expand the proportion of income from OBM with higher profit margins.

Midea Group stated that the essence of internationalization is localization, internationalization of the headquarters, turning a foreign land into a hometown, continuing to increase infrastructure construction such as after-sales service, logistics, and brand overseas.

However, against the background of going abroad becoming the consensus of domestic home appliance companies, Midea Group faces great challenges in further breakthroughs in overseas markets.