The oldest Chinese restaurant chain with the trademark of glazed Peking duck, Quanjude, will soon begin trading on the stock market after nearly a century and a half of existence and hopes to achieve a value of around 50 million dollars, Chinese media report.
The company will embark on a promotional tour on Monday to determine the price of its entry into the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, where small and medium-sized enterprises are particularly valued, reported the Xinhua News Agency on Saturday. Quanjude plans to issue 36 million shares and raise 380 million yuan, according to the same source. The brand of glazed Peking duck Quanjude is one of the oldest, known by the name laozi hao since the time of Chinese emperors.
It all started with the establishment of a small eatery in 1864 during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), which has now transformed into a chain of about ten restaurants and sixty branches with protected specialties, including Peking roast duck, served with cucumber sauce in small pancakes. The company states that it sells three million ducks annually and reported a net profit of 56.6 million yuan last year (7.6 million dollars). Quanjude is a state-owned enterprise, primarily held by tourism organizations of the capital.
