(Yicai Global) March 9 -- China's largest talent management company, Yuehua Entertainment, has applied to go public on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

China Securities and China Merchants Securities International are sponsors of the initial public offering, according to yesterday’s filing to the Hong Kong bourse. No details were given of the size of the listing.

The proceeds will be used to purchase training centers, improve operations, expand the music copyright library and make acquisitions, the Beijing-based company said.

Yuehua Entertainment has 80 artists on its books, including actor Wang Yibo and singer Meng Meiqi, as well as a number of budding talents. As of the end of last year, it had licensed 1,100 music videos and 50,000 musical works from third parties. It also runs a virtual artist group, A-SOUL, created in November 2020.

The company’s net profit has grown at a compound rate of 67.6 percent over the past three years, and last year the firm raked in CNY335.4 million (USD53 million), according to the prospectus. Revenue has increased at a compound growth rate of 43 percent, logging CNY1.29 billion (USD200 million) last year.

The company is controlled by Du Hua and her husband, both chief executive officers, who have a combined 53.5 percent share. It is unknown whether any artists own shares in the firm.

Editor: Kim Taylor