Chinese sportswear brand Naibu is seeking to raise 50 million pounds (US$79.28 million) in an initial public offering in London.

Proceeds of the IPO will be used for domestic expansion and international profile building.

“While they are not looking to establish themselves internationally yet in terms of their brands, they do want to build the international profile with a longer-term perspective in mind,” said a source.

Naibu IPO in London is being managed by investment bank Daniel Stewart & Company which said that Naibu’s after-tax profit of 234 million yuan (US$37.10 million) in 2011 would grow to 546.5 million yuan (US$86.77 million) in 2015.

Naibu, known for its distinctive orange ring logo, offers sportswear including shoes, clothing and accessories aimed at consumers aged 12 to 35. Established in 2002 in Fujian by Huoyan Lin, it now has nearly 3000 stores and sales outlets across China as of late 2011.

Naibu, which produces 6.15 million pairs of shoes annually, expects to reach a sales of 3.4 billion yuan (US$539.08 million) in 2015.

The homegrown sportswear brand competes with local brands Li Ning and China Dongxiang which are both experiencing softer sales after a years of healthy expansion. It also struggles to match foreign competitors including Adidas and Nike which are gaining market share in China.

Naibu will be the first Chinese sportswear brand to list itself on the London Stock Exchange.

GB