Sichuan-based WOWO, a well-established chain of convenience store - reportedly received $10 million from ARC Investment Partners, one of best-known US investment companies.

WOWO has been very successful since its establishment in Chengdu in 2005, and it has grown to have 189 branch stores in Chengdu only and it’s planning on opening more outlets in Chongqing and other province-level cities, leaving the number surpass 500 in the following two years.

The brand began acquiring popularity since it focused on healthy and tasty offerings, starting with Chinese style breakfast, including traditional Chinese Zongzi, tea-flavored boiled egg and steamed buns to go on a more comprehensive range of products as for today.

As a significant step in the process of Chinese brands internationalization, further to ARC capital injection WOWO is getting ready to debut on NASDAQ in the near future, becoming the first Sichuan-based retail enterprise debuting on US market.

“We have done road shows in Europe and United States half a year ago and the feedbacks have been very satisfactory” said Tang Yaohua, general manager of WOWO. “Our brand valuation is about 300 million RMB. If everything goes well, we will enter the NASDAQ market in the first half year of 2009.”