Foxconn Parent Plans Shanghai IPO for Mainland Internet Unit

Taiwan’s contract manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd., one of Apple Inc.’s main manufacturing partners, said it is planning to separately list one of its mainland-based units in Shanghai, aiming to tap capital markets on the other side of the Taiwan Strait.

The plan would see Foxconn Industrial Internet Co. Ltd. apply for a listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Hon Hai said in a statement on Wednesday, which announced its board’s approval of the plan. It did not provide any additional information on the size of the offering, the timing, or how many shares it plans to issue.

Mainland-based units of offshore companies periodically raise money through such offerings to help fund their local operations, which typically do much of their business in China’s currency, the yuan.

Foxconn Industrial Internet helps companies design internet systems that allow for greater automation, collection and analysis of big data, according to its website. The company is based in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen, across the border from Hong Kong.

Hon Hai has separately listed a number of its other major units, including its Hong Kong-listed FIH Mobile unit that makes smartphones for Chinese vendors including Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. Earlier this year, the company separately listed its Foxconn Interconnect Technology Ltd. unit, an electronic connector and cable maker also known as FIT Hon Teng Ltd., in Hong Kong, in a deal that raised $342 million.

Shares of Hon Hai rose 1.3% in Thursday trade in Taiwan. The company is best known as a manufacturer of products for other big brands like Apple. But more recently it has been trying to carve out its own consumer name through its purchase last year of Japanese electronics giant Sharp Corp.

Contact reporter Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com)