China Duty Free Group plans overseas listing, say reports

Gavin Lipsith

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Chinese media reports claim that China Duty Free Group and sister company China International Travel Service are preparing for public offerings on foreign markets

China Duty Free Group and the China International Travel Service (CITS) are preparing for separate flotations on foreign stock markets this year, according to several reports in the Chinese media. The reports claim that parent company CITS Group is drawing up plans to absorb some of the two companies’ assets to prepare them for listing.

Shanghai Securities News quoted CITS president Yao Yuecan as saying that the process will be completed by the end of the year. Xinhua News Agency reported that the state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission had initiated the move.

“The commission hopes the best quality assets will remain [with] CITS and China Duty Free Group after the one-year split programme, so that their overseas share-floats will become smoother,” said the news agency’s source.

The asset split is reported to involve 52 subsidiary companies of China Duty Free Group—which operates outlets at China’s international and domestic airports, borders and downtown—and CITS, which operates travel agent branches across China and in several foreign cities.