STO Express plans backdoor listing

An STO Express Co Ltd delivery vehicle in Guangzhou. STO founded a standalone business unit in 2013 September to tap the overseas market.[Photo provided to China Daily]

The total amount of express delivery packages has soared 8.2 times over the past six years, and about 14 billion packages were delivered across China last year, a year-on-year growth of 52 percent, according to the State Post Bureau.

China's express delivery market is segmented with about 14,000 State-owned, private and multinational companies, among which, STO Express, YTO Express, ZTO Express Co Ltd, Shanghai Yunda Express Co Ltd, and SF Express (Group) Co are the top five players, but none of them is listed.

On Oct 14, the State Council approved a proposal to promote the development of domestic express delivery business, and urged companies to use capital forces to become bigger and stronger.

But due to the slump in the A-share market, the regulatory authorities have suspended approvals for new listings since July. As a result, getting listed through a shell company seems to be the only way out for STO Express.

Li Shiqing, an industry analyst from Minsheng Securities Co, said: "The capital market will speed up the process of upgrading management, expanding service network and lifting technology standards, all of which will help STO Express win more market share."

Likewise, YTO Express is also waiting opportunities to go public. Latest information shows it had received capital from Ali Capital. Founded in 1993, STO Express delivers one-sixth of the nation's total express delivery packages. Its close competitor YTO Express has about 21 percent of the market share, according to its Chairman Yu Weijiao.