Foxconn gets China go-ahead for Shanghai IPO of subsidiary

[March 08, 2018]  SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China has approved the Shanghai listing of an internet and industrial-focused subsidiary of Taiwan's Foxconn, which the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer hopes will help fund new projects.

Logos of Foxconn and Ennoconn are seen during the annual Computex computer exhibition in Taipei, Taiwan June 1, 2016. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

Foxconnn, whose clients include Amazon, Apple , Cisco, Dell [DI.UL], Huawei [HWT.UL] and Lenovo, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission confirmed the approval in statements issued on Thursday.

This followed an earlier Reuters report that the Foxconn unit had obtained the regulatory go-ahead for the planned IPO.

Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, has been aiming to list the unit, Foxconn Industrial Internet Co Ltd (FII), on the Shanghai Stock Exchange to help fund projects in smart manufacturing, cloud computing and 5G solutions.

The firm said previously that around 10 percent of the unit's shares would be converted to floating stock, with parent Foxconn holding onto around 85 percent of the shares. Foxconn shareholders approved the plan in January.

So far, it has not announced details of the IPO.

Last month, the company said it planned to use proceeds from the listing to fund eight projects totaling 27.3 billion yuan ($4.31 billion). The subsidiary unit makes electronic devices, cloud service equipment and industrial robots.

Foxconn Industrial Internet made a net profit of 16.2 billion yuan in 2017.

(Reporting by Xiaochong Zhang and Adam Jourdan; Additional reporting by SHANGHAI and HONG KONG newsroomS; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

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