"Shandong Down Jacket King" IPO process accelerates: unwilling to be a "cheap substitute," striving for high-end positioning, spending 300 million on advertising in three years, and distributing a bonus of 290 million before listing

Blue Whale News, May 11 (Reporter Tang Shiyun) “Shandong Down Jacket King” is accelerating its capitalization efforts. On April 29, the company filed its second listing application with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with China International Capital Corporation serving as the sole sponsor.

This domestic apparel brand, which rose due to its cost-performance ratio, was once called a “Boshi Deng substitute.” As outdoor activity popularity surges, it has now transformed into an outdoor brand, but the high-end effort, Tamboer, still relies on mass-market products for revenue. What is the next step for Tamboer?

Pang Donglai has sold the “Shandong Down Jacket King,” and is speeding toward the capital market.

Tamboer is from Weifang, Shandong. Its early positioning was as a local affordable down jacket brand, gaining recognition in northern markets with its “affordable” and “durable” products. Data from Tmall flagship store shows that its main down jacket products are priced between 200-800 yuan, with the best-selling item priced at 299 yuan after coupons.

It is worth noting that Tamboer last appeared on trending searches when its down jackets sold well at Pang Donglai— a mid-length down jacket with 213 grams of filling, priced at only 599 yuan, with a purchase price of about 458 yuan. Extreme cost-performance and transparent pricing once drew widespread online attention. Compared to brands like Bosideng, which focus on mid-to-high-end markets, Tamboer has its own customer base and differentiated positioning.

In October 2025, the brand submitted its first prospectus; after a six-month validity period, Tamboer provided more impressive financial data. The prospectus shows that the company’s revenue has been rising for three consecutive years, with 2023 to 2025 revenues of 1.02B yuan, 1.3B yuan, and 2.19B yuan, respectively, with year-over-year growth of 39.48%, 27.52%, and 68.13%. During the same period, net profit attributable to the parent was 139 million yuan, 107 million yuan, and 223 million yuan.

In 2025, Tamboer’s profitability was particularly impressive. Driven by revenue growth and cost control, net profit increased by 108% year-over-year, and gross profit margin rebounded to 56.3%. Online sales became the core engine— this segment’s revenue increased by over 100% year-over-year, accounting for nearly 60% of total revenue.

While expanding scale, its marketing expenses also continued to rise. The prospectus shows that Tamboer’s sales and marketing expenses over the past three years were 356 million yuan, 508 million yuan, and 809 million yuan, accounting for nearly 40% of revenue. In 2025, sales expenses exceeded 800 million yuan. Among these, advertising and promotion costs increased from 15.8% of sales in 2023 to 24.2% in 2025, totaling over 350 million yuan spent in three years.

Tamboer is striving for high-end positioning, but its revenue still relies on mass-market products.

Behind the rising sales expenses, Tamboer is upgrading its brand. A more direct change is replacing its endorsers with young actors like Zhou Ye, Huang Xuan, and Zhong Chuxi, whereas early brand ambassadors included Chen Baoguo. Besides reaching younger consumers, Tamboer has also entered the popular outdoor industry, moving toward specialization and high-end development.

Currently, Tamboer has three main series: top outdoor, sports outdoor, and urban light outdoor, covering skiing, mountaineering, hiking, picnics, and daily commuting— catering to both professional and mass needs. The top outdoor series mainly targets niche and high-end outdoor sports. To strengthen its professional image, Tamboer sponsored the Austrian snowboarding national team and the Chinese Nordic combined team at the Winter Olympics.

Product pricing also reflects Tamboer’s efforts toward “high-end.” The prospectus shows that its “Top Outdoor” series products are priced between 999-3,299 yuan, with the most expensive product in Tamboer stores now priced at 3,599 yuan. In 2025, revenue from this series grew significantly, with over 140% year-over-year increase.

However, this series still accounts for a limited share of revenue, only 5.6%. The majority of Tamboer’s revenue comes from the “Urban Light Outdoor Series,” with an average price around 400 yuan. The prospectus shows that the average selling price of this series has decreased from 1,028 yuan in 2023 to 747 yuan in 2025— for a brand that rose through cost-performance, the path to high-end remains challenging.

In fact, the foundation supporting the brand’s upgrade to professionalism and high-end positioning lies in R&D. However, Tamboer’s R&D expenditure in 2025 was 53.48 million yuan, with an R&D expense rate of less than 2.5%. The prospectus states that the company mainly collaborates with third-party contract manufacturers and produces specific product lines at Tamboer Wisdom Technology Park, while strengthening quality control. This production model may face risks such as delays, increased costs, and quality issues. On the Black Cat Complaint Platform, there are over 700 complaints related to Tamboer, mostly about quality problems and after-sales service.

Before going public, a sudden dividend of 290 million yuan was paid, most of which went into one family’s pocket.

Another frequent topic around Tamboer is its pre-IPO dividend payout.

The prospectus discloses that in 2025, Tamboer’s shareholders paid out 290 million yuan in dividends, while the company’s net profit (first half of 2025) was about 35.9 million yuan. This dividend scale is about 8 times its 2022 dividends and nearly 90% of its three-year accumulated net profit.

Affected by this large dividend, Tamboer’s net assets decreased from 741.5 million yuan at the end of 2024 to 674.8 million yuan at the end of 2025. As of the report’s end, the company held cash and cash equivalents of 263.2 million yuan. Compared to the previous prospectus, Tamboer’s financial situation has improved.

It is worth noting that most of this multi-hundred-million-yuan dividend went into the same family’s pockets. From the ownership structure, Tamboer is a typical family business— Ms. Wang Lili (Chairman and General Manager), Mr. Wang Runji (Ms. Wang Lili’s son), Shanghai Lanyin, and Qingzhou Tanwen, together control about 96.6% of voting rights. That is to say, over 180 million yuan of the huge dividend was received by Wang Lili.

The prospectus states that the raised funds will be used for R&D, brand building, supply chain upgrades, and strategic acquisitions.

Strategically, Tamboer’s understanding of current challenges and future directions is clear. The company plans to acquire high-end outdoor brands from Europe, North America, and Japan/Korea with annual revenues of no less than 500 million yuan and over 10 years of operation, to improve its full-scenario product line and brand matrix. On the other hand, it will continue investing in fabric and craftsmanship R&D, promoting multi-channel and digital supply chain integration.

Tamboer’s ambitions are evident, but competition in the outdoor apparel industry is intensifying. This regional leader still has a long road ahead in its capital journey and expansion narrative.