Chinese discount merchandise chain Miniso is reportedly planning an IPO raising as much as US$1 billion to continue its rapid expansion.

A Miniso IPO was first mooted by the company in January last year but there has been no further activity until now.

Citing “people with knowledge of the matter,” Bloomberg has reported that Miniso executives are pitching banks to participate in the public offer.

Miniso was founded by a Japanese designer and a Chinese entrepreneur in 2013. While it has since attempted to pass itself off as a Japanese brand, its products are predominantly sourced from Mainland China and it is a Chinese-headquartered business.

The company has around 3500 stores in 80 markets across the world. Late last year Chinese e-commerce and tech giant Tencent and Hillhouse Capital invested RMB1 billion (US$146 million) into the business.

According to Bloomberg’s sources, both Hong Kong and the US are being mulled as options for the Miniso IPO and a timeline has not yet been set.

Last year Miniso achieved sales of US$2.5 billion.