China's leading Mongolian hot pot chain Little Sheep Ltd will make its debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange Thursday, after a successful initial public offering that was 71 times over-subscribed, company sources said.

The company is offering 245 million shares at a price of HK$2.68 to HK$3.68 per share. More than HK$462 million ($66 million) are expected to be raised, according to the company's prospectus.

The raised fund may hit HK$518 million if the over-allotment option is in effect.

Little Sheep, 20.25 percent owned by 3i Group Plc, Europe's biggest publicly traded private-equity company, plans to add new restaurants, upgrade existing outlets and strengthen its brand.

The company, based in Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is running about 330 restaurants in China, the United States and Japan. It was founded in 1999.

Its sales revenue grew 35.1 percent year on year to 949 million yuan in 2007, with net profit rising 14.6 percent to 91.2 million yuan.

The company predicted that its 2008 profit would hit 125 million yuan.