Pedestrians walk past a KFC restaurant in Shanghai, China, July 6, 2018. (SHEN QILAI / BLOOMBERG)

Yum China Holdings Inc has received the green light from the Hong Kong stock exchange for its proposed second listing, people familiar with the matter said, adding to the list of billion-dollar share sales in the Asian financial hub.

Yum China operates 10,000 restaurants in over 1,400 cities across the mainland, according to its website 

The Chinese mainland’s largest restaurant company, which runs outlets in the country of US brands including KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, is considering gauging investor demand for the share sale as soon as next week, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Yum China could raise about US$2 billion, Bloomberg News has reported.

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Details of the offering are not final and could change, the people said. A representative for Yum China declined to comment.

The New York-listed fast food giant has been working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc and China International Capital Corp on the listing, Bloomberg News has reported. Citigroup Inc, CMB International Capital Corp and UBS Group AG are also arranging the deal, people have said.

Yum China would join a growing slate of companies aiming for a trading foothold in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). 

ALSO READ: Yum China is said to file for US$2b Hong Kong listing

The HKSAR is riding a wave of investor enthusiasm, which encompasses second listings as well as debuts such as the planned initial public offering by mainland bottled water giant Nongfu Spring Co. The company plans to price its IPO in the city at the top of its marketed range, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News.

Yum China operates 10,000 restaurants in over 1,400 cities across the mainland, according to its website. The company reported a sputtering recovery from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, with sales improving in April and May but weakening again in June, according to its latest earnings. 

It said comparable sales in the second quarter fell 11 percent from the previous year, and it expects them to remain under pressure in the third quarter.

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The mainland’s economy is recovering from the COVID 19-induced slump faster than many other countries. Consumer spending on items such as cars outpaced that of catering, which was down 11 percent in July.

The product of a spinoff from Yum! Brands Inc in 2016, Yum China’s US shares have risen 15 percent so far this year, whereas the S&P 500 is up 7.9 percent.

READ MORE: Yum China 'to work with CICC, Goldman on HK listing'