MINISO Group Holding Limited (MNSO) Misled Investors in Connection with its IPO
A shareholder filed a class action on behalf of all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired MINISO Group Holding Limited securities (NYSE: MNSO) pursuant or traceable to the Company’s October 2020 initial public offering (“IPO”), for violations of the Securities Act of 1933. MINISO purports to be a fast-growing global value retailer that serves consumers primarily through its large network of MINISO stores.
According to the complaint, defendants held MINISO’s IPO on October 15, 2020, issuing approximately 30.4 million American Depositary Shares (“ADSs”) to the investing public at $20.00 per ADS, pursuant to the Registration Statement.
The class action lawsuit alleges that the IPO’s Registration Statement was false and/or misleading and/or failed to disclose that: (i) defendants and other undisclosed related parties owned and controlled a much larger amount of MINISO stores than previously stated; (ii) as a result, MINISO concealed its true costs; (iii) MINISO did not represent its true business model; (iv) defendants, including MINISO and its Chairman, engaged in planned unusual and unclear transactions; (v) as a result of at least one of these transactions, MINISO is at risk of breaching contracts with PRC authorities; and (vi) MINISO would imminently and drastically drop its franchise fees.
On July 26, 2022, market researcher Blue Orca Capital published a report on MINISO, which alleged several issues with the Company, including that (i) MINISO’s stores are secretly owned by Company executives or insiders closely connected to the chairman, and (ii) overwhelming evidence shows that MINISO misleads the market about its core business. Blue Orca explained, “[o]ur suspicion is that MINISO realized early in the pre-IPO process that a brick-and-mortar retailer would be far less attractive to investors than an asset-light franchise business, so we think that [MINISO] simply lied about these stores.” Blue Orca added its belief “that the chairman siphoned hundreds of millions from the public company through opaque Caribbean jurisdictions as the middleman in a crooked headquarters deal.” Blue Orca further concluded that “[i]ndependent evidence, including archived disclosures on MINISO’s Chinese website, reports in Chinese media and interviews with former employees, indicate that MINISO is a brand in serious peril,” noting that “MINISO lowered its franchising fee by 63% over the past two years in a desperate effort to attract franchisees.” On this news, MINISO’s ADS price fell nearly 15%.
As of July 27, 2022, MINISO ADSs closed at $5.66 per ADS, representing more than a 70% decline from the $20.00 IPO price.
Next Steps: If you acquired shares of MINISO Group Holdings Limited pursuant to the Company’s IPO, you have until October 17, 2022, to ask the court to appoint you lead plaintiff for the class. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. You do not have to participate in the case to be eligible for a recovery.
All representation is on a contingency fee basis. Shareholders pay no fees or expenses.
