(Cha) begins to trade on Nasdaq

The shares of the Chinese Chagee tea chain rose 15% during its public market debut on Thursday as the company plans to launch the United States despite the trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.

The NASDAQ action, using the “CHA”, opened $ 33.75 per share. Chagee’s shares increased to 49% initially, but lost much of these profits during the afternoon.

The company appreciates its original public offering at $ 28 per share on Wednesday, at the high end of the expected range of $ 26 to $ 28. Chagee sold 14.7 million shares, raising $ 411 million and estimating the company at about $ 5 billion.

Since its founding in 2017, the company has grown to over 6400 tea houses in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Last year, Generated Chagee The net income of $ 344.5 million from $ 1.7 billion revenue, according to regulatory documents.

The company is preparing to open its first place in the United States later this spring at the Westfield Century City mall in Los Angeles.

The founder and CEO Junjie Zhang created the chain after being inspired by the success of international coffee companies. China is Starbucks second largest market.

The initial public offering of Chagee follows several weeks Marketing After president Donald Trump imposed new tariffs and light a trade war With China. Other hopes of IPO, including clan and stubhubThey delayed their plans to become public after the markets were immersed.

In recent years, it has also become less popular for Chinese companies to list the US exchanges. From January 2023 to January 2024, the number of Chinese companies listed on the three largest exchanges in the United States has fallen by 5%, according to the US and China Economic and Security Commission.