Recently, according to information disclosed by the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Zhongqiao Sports Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhongqiao Sports") and its sponsor, BOCI Securities, withdrew their listing applications. As a result, the Shanghai Stock Exchange decided to terminate the review of the company's initial public offering and listing on the main board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
According to Beduo Finance, Zhongqiao Sports submitted a prospectus in March 2023 to be listed on the main board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and originally planned to raise 1.064 billion yuan, which will be used for the expansion project of the shoe production base, the construction project of the R&D and design center, the construction project of the national strategic direct store, and the information construction project.
As early as September 2010, Zhongqiao Sports (formerly known as Qiaodan Sports) submitted an application for issuance and listing to the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Within 12 months before the submission of the application for issuance and listing, the company added Fujian Baiqun, Ding Canhui, Ni Zhennian, Xie Changzhi and Ding Shijie as shareholders.
According to the prospectus, Zhongqiao Sports is mainly engaged in the design, production and sales of sports shoes, sportswear and sports accessories. Since its establishment, the company has been committed to the shaping and promotion of the Jordan brand, the independent research and development, design and production of products, the integration and management of the supply chain, and the construction and optimization of the marketing network.
Zhongqiao Sports said in the prospectus that the company through the combination of product self-production and outsourcing production, and through the dealer sales and network self-sales combined sales model to establish a sales network in the country, to provide consumers with reliable quality, superior performance, fashionable Jordan brand sneakers and sportswear.
Tianyancha App shows that Zhongqiao Sports was established in June 2000, and its former names include Fujian Jordan Sporting Goods Co., Ltd., Jordan Sports Co., Ltd., etc. At present, the registered capital of the company is 450 million yuan, the legal representative is Ding Guoxiong, and the shareholders include Fujian Baiqun Investment Co., Ltd., Ding Jiafang, Ding Canhui, Ni Zhennian, etc.
Although the company and brand are named after "Jordan", Zhongqiao Sports has not been authorized by former American professional basketball player Michael Jeffrey Jordan (hereinafter referred to as "Michael Jordan"). Previously, Michael Jordan had sued Qiaodan Sports, the predecessor of Zhongqiao Sports, for infringement of his name rights and requested the cancellation of a number of his trademarks.
In 2020, the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court ruled that Qiaodan Sports should suspend the trade name "Jordan" in its corporate name and the trademark involving "Jordan". At the same time, Qiaodan Sports was ordered to compensate the plaintiff Michael Jordan for mental damages of RMB 300,000 and compensation for litigation expenses of RMB 50,000.
After the first-instance judgment, Qiaodan Sports appealed to the Shanghai Higher People's Court, requesting that the first-instance judgment be revoked and all of Michael Jordan's claims dismissed. In March 2022, the Shanghai Higher People's Court ruled that the appeal was rejected and the original judgment was upheld, making it a final judgment.
In other words, Qiaodan Sports (i.e., "Zhongqiao Sports") lost the name right lawsuit. Based on this, Qiaodan Sports changed the name of the company from "Qiaodan Sports Co., Ltd." to "Zhongqiao Sports Co., Ltd." After the final judgment came into effect, Qiaodan Sports also fulfilled the compensation.
However, the Chinese character "Jordan" trademark still belongs to Zhongqiao Sports. Zhongqiao Sports said in the prospectus that the company has the right to the trade name of the enterprise and the exclusive right to the registered trademark, and these rights are protected by mainland law. In addition, the Company has also obtained some of the "QIAODAN" pinyin and "Jordan" word and figurative trademarks overseas.
The court stated that for trademarks involving "Jordan" that have exceeded the five-year dispute period, reasonable methods, including distinguishing marks, should be adopted to indicate that they do not have any association with former American basketball player Michael Jordan, so as to eliminate the connection, show the difference, and stop the infringement.
Zhongqiao Sports stressed that the company does not have any commercial cooperation with former American professional basketball player Michael Jeffrey Jordan (commonly translated "Michael Jordan in Chinese"), nor has it used its image to promote its enterprises and products. The Chinese character "Jordan" involved in Chinese is not related to Michael Jordan unless otherwise noted.
Zhongqiao Sports said in the prospectus that the company has never actively confused or implied that it has a business relationship with any non-issuer contract or sponsor, including Michael Jordan. However, the company does not guarantee that some consumers may associate the two and cause misunderstanding or confusion, which in turn will generate negative emotions.
In addition, Zhongqiao Sports was also sued by Nike (Nike Innovation Limited Partnership). According to the "First Instance Judgment", Zhongqiao Sports and Fujian Bidding Network Technology Co., Ltd. were sentenced to stop infringing. At the same time, Zhongqiao Sports was sentenced to compensate Nike 10 million yuan, and Fujian Provincial Bidding Network Technology Co., Ltd. was jointly and severally liable for 3 million yuan.
After the first-instance verdict, Zhongqiao Sports appealed. According to reports, the Fujian Provincial High People's Court issued a notice of acceptance of the case (2022) Min Min Zhong No. 1089 on June 20, 2022. As of the date of signing the prospectus, the case was still in the process of trial of the second instance.
This also means that Zhongqiao Sports is still at risk of losing the lawsuit. Zhongqiao Sports said in the prospectus that the company will still face new lawsuits related to trade names, trademarks and product logos in the future, and the existing pending litigation and potential litigation are still one of the risks it faces, and such situations may have an adverse impact on the company's production, operation and performance stability.
Before this listing, the controlling shareholder of Zhongqiao Sports was Fujian Baiqun, with a shareholding ratio of 64.73% in the company. According to the prospectus, Ding Guoxiong and Ding Yezhi hold all the shares of Fujian Baiqun and are the actual controllers of Zhongqiao Sports. Among them, Ding Guoxiong is the chairman of Zhongqiao Sports.
At the same time, Ding Jiafang, director of Zhongqiao Sports, and Ding Shijie, director and deputy general manager, are both members of the Ding family, which can also have a significant impact on the company's production and operation decisions. Among them, Ding Shijie is Ding Guoxiong's nephew, and Ding Jiafang is Ding Yezhi's brother, holding 2.00% and 16.18% of the shares respectively.
In addition, Ding Canhui holds 8.09% of the shares, Ni Zhennian holds 6.00% of the shares, and Xie Changzhi holds 3.00% of the shares, of which Ni Zhennian is the vice chairman and general manager of Zhongqiao Sports, and Xie Changzhi is the director and deputy general manager. According to the prospectus, Ding Canhui is the early entrepreneurial partner of Ding Guoxiong, the actual controller of Zhongqiao Sports.
In particular, Zhongqiao Sports has paid cash dividends many times. In November 2019, the company paid a dividend of 405 million yuan to all shareholders, 360 million yuan in March 2021 and 450 million yuan in October 2022. According to this calculation, Zhongqiao Sports has paid a cumulative dividend of about 1.2 billion yuan in four years.
This also means that the members of the Ding family have obtained eighty percent (82.91%), about 1.1 billion yuan, and have achieved "wealth".