(Yicai) Dec. 13 -- The former chief financial officer of US fast food giant McDonald’s China arm is now working for Chagee and will help spearhead the rapidly growing Chinese new-style tea chain’s initial public offering, financial news outlet Huxiu reported today.

Huang Hongfei joined Chagee as chief financial officer shortly after departing McDonald's China in October, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Chagee is at a critical point in its business expansion, and is revamping its store operation model, supply chain and digital system, the source said.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer Zhang Junjie has recruited nearly a dozen mid- and senior-level managers from big-name restaurant chains in the past year, the person said. Zhang also took on the role of independent director at hotpot giant Haidilao in August to learn from its successful experience.

Huang joined McDonald's China in 1995 and worked his way up through regional finance until he reached the rank of CFO in 2013. During his tenure, he helped McDonald's China bring in state-owned financial giant CITIC Group as a major shareholder.

Founded in 2017, Chagee first started offering its fresh milk teas, snowy frappés and original fruit teas in the southwestern provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan and gradually expanded to the whole country. As of the end of November, the Chengdu-based company had more than 6,000 outlets, and had branched into a number of other countries including Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.

In April, Reuters’ IFR reported that Chagee plans to go public in the US and raise up to USD300 million, becoming the third Chinese tea chain to go public after Naixue and ChaPanda. This news has yet to be confirmed.

Editor: Kim Taylor