Camkids Group, a leading Chinese designer, manufacturer and distributor of branded outdoor clothing, outdoor footwear and outdoor equipment targeted at the Chinese children's market, on Monday announced its intention to raise funds and seek admission of its shares to trading on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange.
The company initially began trading in 1994 as an OEM and ODM shoe manufacturer, primarily for the global export market, supplying global brands such as Geox and Fila. As at June 30th 2012, the Group employed 1,075 staff and supplied products to over 1,000 outlets throughout the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) through its 15 distributors and their third party retailers.
Commenting on the decision to float on AIM, Zhang Congming, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Camkids, said: "This is an extremely exciting opportunity for the Group. Having established our position as one of the leading outdoor clothing brands for Chinese children and teenagers, this fundraise and the Group's Listing in London will help the Board to take Camkids forward into the next phase of its development and expedite our growth in this rapidly expanding market.
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"We believe that further investment in brand promotion, marketing, production capacity as well as increased R&D spend will allow Camkids to fulfil our aim of becoming the dominant player in the Chinese domestic market."
Camkids sold more teenage outdoor footwear than any other brand or company in the PRC in 2011, including Nike Kids and Adidas Kids (source: The China Industrial Information Issuing Center Report, February 2012). In September 2012 the Group was included as one of the top 500 brands in Asia. Furthermore, the Group continues to manufacture footwear for Geox and Fila on an OEM basis.
Camkids has consistently generated cash and ended 2011 with net cash of RMB 74m (circa £7.4m) after paying a dividend, on sales of RMB 217.61m.
Dealings are expected to commence on AIM on December 24th 2012. Allenby Capital Limited is acting as Nominated Adviser and sole Broker to the Group.
AB
