Foxconn Industrial Internet filed for an initial public offering on Monday with the goal of raising funds for its current and future 5G projects, as well as improving its overall production operations. The division of Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn intends to go public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange later this year, offering some ten-percent of its enlarged issued share capital in the form of Class-A shares which come with enhanced voting rights. The price of the stock has yet to be determined and Foxconn still hasn’t disclosed what its valuation and funding targets are.
The original equipment manufacturer plans to finance eight projects with its IPO funds, having estimated those endeavors will cost it approximately $4.31 billion. Beyond those investments, any additional resources raised through the listing will go toward Foxconn’s working capital. The firm originally applied for an IPO in February, with the China Securities Regulatory Commission reviewing its proposal until last week. The three-month approval period is uncharacteristically fast for the Far Eastern country, with Beijing often taking over a year to probe and greenlit public listing requests. The manner in which Foxconn received approval is meant to be indicative of a new securities policy that the regulator is interested in pursuing moving forward so as to encourage more people to go public in mainland China, according to the agency’s recent statements.
The industry-wide consensus is that Foxconn’s enterprise-focused Internet division is capable of holding a stable IPO, with its business now growing in a mature manner. The company posted over $2.5 billion in profit last year, an improvement over its 2016 bottom line that was some $2.27 billion in the black. Foxconn’s unit is presently working with some of the world’s largest technology companies such as Apple, Huawei, and Lenovo. Its investor roadshow is likely to start by early summer, with the listing itself being expected in the third quarter of the year. Xiaomi is currently also pursuing an IPO in China, seeking to raise some $10 billion in cash at a valuation of up to $80 billion at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, as per recent reports and its own filing disclosures.