On November 1st, "Star Charging" parent company is sprinting for an A-share IPO, as reported by the "Star Market Daily" (Editor Zhu Ling). Recently, Wanbang Digital Energy Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Wanbang Energy") filed for counseling for listing at Jiangsu Securities Regulatory Bureau, planning to list on the A-share market, with GTJA as the counseling institution.

Public information shows that Wanbang Energy was founded in 2014 and completed a share reform in 2017. Its main business includes research, development, and operation of electric vehicle charging stations, integrated photovoltaic systems, research and manufacturing of energy storage systems, research and application of car-network interaction technology, comprehensive energy management, and cni green electricity index trading.

Wanbang Energy adopts a business model of 'hardware + software + services' and has become a unicorn in the digital energy field, with brands such as Star Charging, Meili Charging, Star Energy, Guochuang Energy, and Carbon Footprint under its umbrella.

Unsuccessful Hong Kong IPO

This is not Wanbang Energy's first time filing for A-share IPO counseling. In September 2020, Wanbang Energy signed an IPO counseling agreement with GTJA and filed for counseling in Jiangsu Securities Regulatory Bureau in October of the same year, but the follow-up of this counseling filing was later withdrawn.

It is worth mentioning that during this counseling period, Wanbang Energy's original IPO audit institution, PricewaterhouseCoopers Zhong Tian, resigned in April 2021 due to reasons such as time and personnel arrangements. In May 2021, Wanbang Energy changed its IPO audit institution to the current RSM China.

According to reports earlier this year, Wanbang Energy is considering an IPO in Hong Kong, with a potential target of a $5 billion market valuation, raising approximately $0.5 billion in capital, and aiming to list in Hong Kong as early as the second half of this year. However, up to now, Wanbang Energy has not applied for or received approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission for overseas issuance and listing.

Both Hillhouse Capital and IDG have invested.

On the shareholder side, Wanbang New Energy Investment Group Limited directly holds 75% of Wanbang Energy's shares and is the controlling shareholder of Wanbang Energy. Wanbang New Energy Investment Group is owned 50% each by Ding Feng and Shao Danwei.

Ding Feng is the actual controller of Jiangsu Wanbang Jinzhi Star Car Industry Investment Group, Jiangsu Wanbang Automobile Co., Ltd., and other car sales and leasing companies. He started as an import car agent in 2000, gradually began selling various car brands, and became a well-known car dealer in East China.

Shao Danwei is the Chairwoman of Wanbang Energy. After graduating from university in 2004, she joined Ding Feng's Wanbang Automobile Company and was later promoted to President of Wanbang Car Industry Group. In 2014, she established the "Star Charging" brand within the company and founded Wanbang New Energy Investment Group.

According to the data from Cailian Venture Capital, Wanbang Energy completed its angel round financing in 2018, with China Development Fund as the investor. In 2020, Wanbang Energy introduced Kangyuanhuiying, Jiaxing Chenxi, and Dezaihou Capital through equity financing.

In September 2020, Wanbang Energy announced a 0.855 billion yuan Series A financing, led by funds under China International Capital Corporation and Schneider Electric, with Bank of Communications International, Guochuang Zhongding, Shanghai Guohe, and Wujin High-tech Zone Platform Company as co-investors.

In May 2021, Wanbang Energy announced the completion of nearly 1.5 billion yuan Series B financing, led by Hillhouse Capital, with IDG, Beijing Taikang Investment, Yuda Investment, and others as followers. The post-investment valuation reached 15.5 billion yuan.

It is worth noting that Wanbang Energy was once listed as an execution target in May of this year, with the executing court being the People's Court of Xundian Hui and Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, and the execution target being 0.1249 million yuan. Currently, Wanbang Energy has been removed from the list of enforced persons.

The number of charging stations ranks second in the country.

In 2020, Shao Danwei publicly stated that Star Charge was the only charging enterprise that had been consistently profitable up to that time.

According to data released by the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance, by the end of 2023, the national public charging stations reached 2.726 million units, a year-on-year increase of 51.7%. Among them, Star Charge operates 0.451 million public charging stations, ranking second among national public charging station operators. The top-ranking TELD operates 0.523 million public charging stations.

TELD is a holding subsidiary of Qingdao TGOOD Electric, a GEM-listed company. In March 2022, TGOOD disclosed its plan to spin off TELD for listing on the STAR Market. Financial reports show that TELD has turned a loss into a profit in 2023. Currently, TELD is in the stage of listing guidance, and the IPO is still in preparation.

Facing domestic competition, Wanbang Energy is accelerating its layout of overseas charging station markets. Star Charge executives stated in an interview in May this year that currently, 80% of Star Charge's electric vehicle charging facility revenue comes from the domestic market, but it is expected that at least half of this year's gross profit will come from overseas.