High-end Chinese restaurant chain Xiao Nan Guo, known for its Shanghai-style cooking, confirmed Thursday that it has postponed a planned Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO), blaming market conditions.

“Due to recent excessive market volatility, it would be unwise to proceed with the global offering at the moment,” the company said in a statement.

“No schedule for a resumed IPO can be released right now,” a PR officer surnamed Huang told the Global Times.

Xiao Nan Guo, which operates 51 restaurants in the mainland and Hong Kong, began taking orders for the offering from institutional investors on September 12 and intended to list in Hong Kong next Wednesday, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

The company had hoped to raise up to $95 million through the IPO by issuing 335 million shares in a price range of HK$1.65 to HK$2.2 per share, with a corresponding price-to-equity ratio of 13 to 20, according to its filing.

Xiao Nan Guo is one of a number of domestic restaurant chains seeking to tap into growing spending by urban Chinese. China’s consumer food service industry has grown by 13 percent annually in the last five years to 2.3 billion yuan ($359 million), and will expand to 3.7 billion yuan by 2015, according to Xiao Nan Guo’s prospectus, citing a report by market research firm Euromonitor.

The company said its total turnover reached 872 million yuan last year, up 32.4 percent year-on-year, and it will open 22 new restaurants this year, 26 more in 2012 and 33 in 2013.

The postponement comes as Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index has been hit by the global financial downturn and events in Europe in recent weeks. It slumped by 4.85 percent Thursday to close at 17,911.95, the lowest level since July 2009.

Chinese consumer companies have launched IPOs worth nearly $485 million this month in Hong Kong, a rare sign of confidence after nearly seven weeks of no deals.

Tea maker Tenfu Holdings Co set a price of 6 yuan per share for its IPO on Wednesday, and shoemaker and retailer Hongguo International Holdings Ltd listed last Friday, but investors remain cautious as global markets lose further ground.

“It’s not the right time for investors to buy into IPOs,” Yang Nanxiang, an analyst with Guosen Securities HK, told the Global Times. “Things may change in the fourth quarter.”  

Yang believes Xiao Nan Guo is “very protective of its brand and may have been worried about the potential negative effect if the stock was to trade down after the debut.”