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The initial public offering of Hive Box Holdings in Hong Kong, a Chinese parcel locker operator supported by SF Express, has been on hold for over a year due to a dispute and subsequent lawsuit initiated by investor Asia Forge Capital over a share repurchase agreement, sources reported.
Hive Box, partly owned by SF Express founder Wang Wei with a 36.5% stake, filed its IPO prospectus with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last August. However, the registration expired this February after the company failed to submit the necessary supplementary documents within the designated timeframe, and there have been no updates since then.
An industry insider said that negotiations between Asia Forge Capital and Hive Box over the redemption clause in a 2021 investment agreement broke down after multiple discussions. That year, Hive Box raised around $400 million from various investors, including Asia Forge Cayman, an entity under Asia Forge Capital. The agreement granted shareholders the right to redeem their shares if Hive Box did not go public by January 27, 2025.
According to Hive Box’s August 2024 prospectus, the company intended to extend the redemption deadline to January 31, 2027, by paying approximately $80 million. However, Asia Forge Capital did not agree to this extension and subsequently filed a lawsuit in Hong Kong. No case details have been publicly available on the local court website.
A representative from Asia Forge Capital declined to comment when contacted, and calls to Hive Box went unanswered.
An anonymous legal expert noted that a publicly listed company’s ownership structure must be transparent and stable. If there’s a legal dispute involving share buybacks, the current shareholder list and ownership percentages could change, and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange cannot proceed with an approval based on an uncertain equity structure.
Apart from the ongoing lawsuit, Hive Box faces additional challenges with its IPO process. The company reported cumulative losses exceeding 3.7 billion yuan ($519.5 million) from 2021 to 2023, primarily due to heavy investments in expanding its smart locker network. In October 2024, the China Securities Regulatory Commission requested Hive Box to clarify details about its Variable Interest Entity structure and business compliance, but the company did not provide the required disclosures within the deadline.
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