Tong Ren Tang applies for separate listing for unit

Tong Ren Tang Technology Co has re-applied for a separate listing for its subsidiary Beijing Tong Ren Tang Chinese Medicine Co Ltd on the Growth Enterprise Market, a report from the traditional Chinese medicine maker said on Thursday.

This is the second application that the company submitted to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange after it filed a similar proposal in Dec 2010.

In its previous application, the company said the separate listing was to achieve "sustainable business growth" and "better credit support from banks".

In the new documents, the company said the measure could help improve the transparency of its operations and finance, so that investors could evaluate the potential of its subsidiary.

Tong Ren Tang Technology owns a 53.09 percent stake in Tong Ren Tang Chinese Medicine, and the rest is in the hands of companies it controls.

Details of the listing have not yet been decided.

Analysts said that with separate listings the company would rely more on capital markets and its overseas business, as its domestic business is being hit by a medical reform.

"Tong Ren Tang has seen stable overseas growth and healthy exports in recent years," Liu Zhanglin, vice-president of the China Chamber of Commerce for the Import and Export of Medicines and Health Products, was quoted by China Business News as saying.

The company was the largest exporter of TCM products in China last year.

Apart from its stores in cities with Chinese influence — such as Hong Kong, Macao, and Singapore — the company is also seeing faster expansion in countries like Australia and the United Kingdom.

Mei Qun, the president of Tong Ren Tang Group, said that the company was looking to expand its overseas presence to more than 100 stores in 30 countries, from 40 stores in 16 countries, over the next five years.