2025.11.10
On November 10, 2025, Softcare Limited (Softcare, stock code 2698.HK) was officially listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Softcare globally offered 90,884,000 shares (before exercising the over-allotment option) at HKD 26.20 per share, raising approximately HKD 2.4 billion.
Softcare is a multinational hygiene products company focused on the rapidly developing and emerging markets in Africa, Latin America, Central Asia and other regions. The company specializes in the development, manufacturing and sales of baby diapers, baby pull-up pants, sanitary napkins and wet wipes for babies and women. Softcare offers a variety of baby and women's hygiene products under different brands (including its core brands Softcare, Veesper, Maya, Cuettie and Clincleer) to cater to different consumer groups, earning the industry title of ' The King of Diapers in Africa'.
During the reporting period, most of Softcare's revenue came from sales to African customers. According to industry consultant Frost & Sullivan, based on 2024 sales volume, Softcare ranked number one in both the African baby diaper and sanitary napkin markets, with market shares of 20.3% and 15.6%, respectively. Based on 2024 revenue, Softcare ranked second in both the African baby diaper and sanitary napkin markets, with market shares of 17.2% and 11.9%, respectively. With over 15 years of multinational operational strategy, Softcare has become a leading enterprise in the hygiene products industry in multiple African countries and is also a significant player in emerging markets. As of April 30, 2025, Softcare has eight production plants and 51 production lines in Africa, 18 sales branches in 12 countries, and a broad sales network covering over 2,800 wholesalers, distributors, supermarkets and other retailers.
Softcare received investment from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, in its Pre-IPO financing round. Its listing attracted 15 cornerstone investors: BA Capital, Arc Avenue, Arcane Nexus (Boyu Capital), Beijing Shun‘ao (Morgan Stanley), CDH Emerging Markets (CDH Investments), HCEP, NewTrails, Southern Fund, Fullgoal Fund, E Fund, Charisma Mega, TruMed, Qihuirunjin, China Asset Management and Jane Street. The cornerstone investment accounted for 47.14% of the total global offering.
JunHe acted as the Chinese legal counsel, joint sponsor and underwriter for this listing. They assisted in domestic legal due diligence, reviewed and revised the prospectus and the other application and issuance documents, and closely cooperated with all parties to prepare the complete set of legal documents for the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) overseas listing filing. JunHe responded to the CSRC, Hong Kong Stock Exchange and Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission's concerns regarding the Chinese domestic legal issues and undertook other legal work related to the listing. They ultimately assisted Softcare to successfully complete the CSRC filing and obtain approval from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for the listing application. JunHe's team was highly efficient and diligent, with their meticulous and dedicated service attitude receiving high praise and recognition from the issuer, joint sponsors and other intermediaries.
The leading partners for this project were WANG, Weiwei, ZHANG, Ping (Pete) and XIONG, Jingui (Alice). XIONG, Jingui (Alice) was the main handling partner and YI, Yisong was the internal review partner.
