Chinese tea chain Chagee has filed for a U.S. initial public offering, planning to trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “CHA.” The company was founded in 2017 and has grown to over 6,400 tea houses across China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. The majority of its locations are in China, and it generated net income of $344.5 million from revenue of $1.7 billion in 2024.
Founder and CEO Junjie Zhang created Chagee to modernize tea drinking inspired by the success of international coffee companies like Starbucks, which is China’s second-largest market. The company aims to expand globally, with goals to serve tea lovers in 100 countries, create 300,000 job opportunities, and deliver 15 billion cups of tea annually.
However, Chagee’s move to go public comes at a time when the number of Chinese companies seeking U.S. listings has decreased due to strained U.S.-China relations. Some Chinese companies have faced challenges in pursuing U.S. IPOs, with examples like Shein now planning a London IPO instead.
U.S. investors may be cautious about investing in Chinese beverage chains following the Luckin Coffee scandal in 2020. Luckin, which had initially surpassed Starbucks in China and gone public on the Nasdaq, was delisted after it was discovered to have inflated its sales. The company filed for bankruptcy, but has since recovered to become China’s largest coffee retailer by sales.
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