This is an English adaptation of a FoodBud historical article originally published on September 10, 2021.
Helens, described in the source as China’s largest bar chain, listed in Hong Kong on September 10, 2021 under stock code 9869. The company opened at HK$23.05 per share, 16.59% above its offer price of HK$19.77. At the time of publication, it was trading at HK$25.75 per share, giving it a market value of HK$30.295 billion.
The article contrasts Helens’ first-day performance with Nayuki’s Hong Kong listing on June 30, 2021. Nayuki’s IPO price was HK$19.80 per share, but it closed its first day at HK$17.12, down 13.53% from the offer price, and had not returned above its IPO price by the time this article was written.
After the IPO, Helens founder Xu Bingzhong held 69.06% of the company, implying a paper stake worth more than HK$20 billion at the quoted market value.
Helens issued 135 million shares in the IPO. The Hong Kong public offering was approximately 30.80 times subscribed, while the international tranche was approximately 25.58 times subscribed.
Ahead of the listing, Helens had accelerated store openings. It opened 93 stores in 2019 and 105 stores in 2020. As of March 31, 2021, the company had nearly 400 stores across more than 90 Chinese cities.
The company expected to open 400 new stores in 2021 and increase its total number of bars to about 2,200 by the end of 2023.
According to directors and senior vice presidents Lei Xing and Zhang Bo, speaking after the company’s listing celebration, Helens was moving to remove “bistro” from its name and gradually reduce its dependence on the small-bar identity. The company intended to develop toward a platform model.
One example cited was working with nearby barbecue restaurants to bring barbecue products into Helens stores. Zhang said Helens would operate as an “offline social platform for young people,” rather than limiting itself to bars or traditional foodservice, with a model of a larger platform and smaller front-end store formats.
He Yu, managing partner of Black Ant Capital, said the offline social scene for young people had long been a large market, but historically fragmented. He described Helens as a company that had turned a seemingly difficult commercial model into reality, and said its logic of creating value for users, employees, and society could support long-term growth.
He had previously told media that his expectation for Helens was to build a “nighttime Starbucks” in an overlooked sector. In his view, Helens’ competitiveness came from offering young consumers a relaxed, accessible, low-barrier social space. Once that atmosphere was established, he argued, it became the brand’s biggest moat.
The article notes that behind Helens’ revenue growth, the company also had losses and a high liability ratio.
According to its prospectus, Helens’ liability ratio remained above 80% from 2018 to 2020: 95.4%, 84.48%, and 81.37%, respectively. Total liabilities rose from RMB214 million to RMB700 million over that period. At the end of the first quarter of 2021, the liability ratio was 86.04%, losses exceeded RMB76 million, and total liabilities reached RMB1.078 billion.
The prospectus warned that net current liabilities could expose the company to liquidity risk, limit operating flexibility, and adversely affect its ability to expand.
The prospectus indicated that about 70% of IPO proceeds would be used to open new bars. The expansion plan called for 400, 630, and 900 new stores in 2021, 2022, and 2023, respectively, reaching 2,200 total stores by 2023.
The article argues that rising labor costs, other expenses such as sales and marketing, and rapid expansion could put pressure on cash flow. It also questions whether the company’s talent pipeline could keep up.
As of August 2021, Helens had 365 reserve store managers. Compared with a plan to open 853 new stores by the end of 2022, the article sees a meaningful gap in management reserves.
It also notes that ordinary store employees were mainly outsourced, creating potential instability in the labor structure. As the store network expanded and operating complexity increased, management and execution risks could become more pronounced.
Because Helens positioned itself as a low-price bar chain, the article argues that raising average ticket size may be difficult. Store-level efficiency would therefore depend heavily on table turnover, but turnover in the bar category has a natural ceiling.
The article cites competitor research suggesting that consumers often stay in bars for at least three hours. Helens’ prospectus stated that its stores operated for an average of seven hours per day.
Even assuming Helens could reduce the average customer stay to 2.5 hours, the article estimates maximum table turnover at only 2.8, leaving limited room for further growth.
Rapid store expansion and higher store density could also divert customers from older stores and constrain turnover. The article compares this dynamic with chains such as Haidilao, Tai Er, and Coucou, where turnover declined during periods of fast expansion as store count increased.
Note: IPO prices, market value, ownership values, store targets, and forward expansion plans are historical figures from the 2021 source article.