By Kane Wu and Scott Murdoch

HONG KONG/SYDNEY, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Chinese trading card and collectible toy company Kayou has restarted plans for a Hong Kong initial public offering $(IPO.UK)$ to raise about $500 million, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

The company is planning to lodge its filings with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) as soon as this month, the sources added.

The sources could not be named discussing confidential information. Kayou did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kayou had initially planned to list in Hong Kong in 2024 but could not get regulatory approval for the deal to go ahead, Bloomberg News reported last year. Chinese regulators slowed the IPO approval process last year as global financial markets were volatile amid high interest rates and major geopolitical events.

Approvals for Hong Kong IPOs are now happening at a faster rate, bankers say.

The Shanghai-based Kayou produces trading cards, toys and merchandise for brands that include Ultraman and My Little Pony, according to its website.

The deal comes after toymaker Bloks Group 0325.HK raised $215 million in a Hong Kong IPO that was very popular among the city's army of retail investors. The retail portion of that deal was 6,000 times oversubscribed, according to the company's regulatory filings.

Bloks Group stock rose more than 80% when it began trading in January and its shares remain nearly 34% above the issue price.

Chinese consumer companies are expected to be popular Hong Kong IPO candidates this year as global investors return attention to China and its economy recovers from the pandemic lockdowns, according to bankers and advisors.

Mainland firms, especially in the tech sector, are accelerating plans to raise funds offshore, tapping into a rebound in investor sentiment fueled by hopes of Beijing's support for private firms and the popularity of DeepSeek, bankers said.

(Reporting by Kane Wu in Hong Kong and Scott Murdoch in Sydney; Editing by Stephen Coates)

((Scott.Murdoch@thomsonreuters.com;))