Reporter Fang Chao and Zhang Jiazhen report from Shanghai

(Delijia is located in Wuxi Xishan Development Zone. Image source: the company's official website).

In the context of the IPO acceptance tide in the A-share market, the "gearbox giant" Delijia Transmission Technology (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Delijia") started the journey of listing on the main board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

A few days ago, the official website of the Shanghai Stock Exchange announced that Delijia's IPO application on the main board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange was accepted, and the sponsor was Huatai United Securities. According to the prospectus, Delijia plans to raise 1.88 billion yuan, which will be used for large-scale onshore wind power gearbox projects and large-scale offshore wind power gearbox Shantou projects.

The reporter of "China Business Daily" noticed that as a leading enterprise in the industry, Delijia's core product market share in 2023 will rank second in China and third in the world. However, its IPO journey also faces many challenges, including the unusually high proportion of revenue from the top five customers, the R&D expense ratio is lower than the industry average, and the gross profit margin declines.

Regarding the slowdown in performance growth in 2023, the relevant person in charge of Delijia said in a recent reply to reporters: "The company's sales amount is growing as a whole, the operating situation is good, and there are differences in the growth rate of business in each period, which is a normal business change and no special reason." ”

"Big customer dependency" is a concern

According to public information, Delijia was established in 2017 and is an enterprise mainly engaged in the research and development, production and sales of high-speed and heavy-duty precision gear transmission products.

Although it has not been established for a long time, Delijia has a high market share in the wind power gearbox segment. According to QY Research statistics, in 2023, the Chinese market share of Delijia products will be 20.68%, ranking second in the country, and the global market share will be 12.77%, ranking third in the world.

The secret of Delijia's rapid development may be inseparable from the support of its major shareholders.

The reporter noted that Liu Jianguo, chairman and general manager of Delijia, and Kong Jinfeng, director, deputy general manager and secretary of the board of directors, are husband and wife, both of whom have worked in Nanjing High Precision Gear Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "NGC"), a well-known company. From March 2007 to October 2015, Mr. Liu Jianguo served as a director and deputy general manager of NGC.

In January 2017, Mr. and Mrs. Liu Jianguo and Mr. and Mrs. Kong Jinfeng, together with Sany Renewable Energy (688349.SH) and Jiasheng Investment, signed the Articles of Association of Beijing Delijia Transmission Technology Co., Ltd., and the parties agreed to establish Beijing Delijia Transmission Technology Co., Ltd., the predecessor of Delijia. In 2018, Delijia moved to Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, and changed the company's name to its current name.

As of the signing date of the prospectus, Liu Jianguo and Kong Jinfeng controlled a total of 41.98% of the shares of Delijia and were the actual controllers of Delijia; Sany Renewable Energy holds 28% of the shares, making it the second largest shareholder; Binjing Investment, a subsidiary of Envision Energy, holds 15.27% of the shares, making it the third largest shareholder.

According to public data, in the 2024 list of winning bids for China's wind turbine manufacturers, Sany Renewable Energy and Envision Energy rank among the top five in the industry.

In the context that the two major shareholders are well-known wind power manufacturers in the industry, Delijia's "large customer dependence" has also attracted the attention of the industry. From 2021 to 2023 and the first half of 2024, the total sales amount of Delijia to the top five customers accounted for 91.94%, 98.86%, 95.92% and 97.89% of operating income, respectively.

"During the reporting period, the company's main customers are all domestic wind power head enterprises, and sales to the top five customers are relatively concentrated, mainly due to the fact that the company's products are currently mainly used in the field of wind power generation, and the downstream wind power manufacturing industry is highly concentrated." The relevant person in charge of Delijia told reporters.