Taiwan Hon Hai To List Handset Unit In HK In February

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (2317.TW) plans to list its handset operation in Hong Kong after an initial public offering valued between US$350 million and US$400 million, a person familiar with the situation said Monday.

Hon Hai, one of the world's largest contract makers of electronic products, plans to list the unit, Foxconn International Holdings, on the Hong Kong stock exchange's main board Feb. 3.

Foxconn is now premarketing the share sale, the person said.

Bookbuilding for the institutional tranche, which will account for 90% of the IPO, starts Jan. 17, while subscriptions to the retail tranche will start Jan. 24.

Both subscription periods will end. Jan 27 and the shares will be priced the same day, the person said.

Goldman Sachs and UBS are the global co-ordinators of the deal.

It isn't known yet how the company will use the proceeds of the IPO, but it is common for Taiwanese companies to raise capital in Hong Kong to fund their China operations as there are restrictions on direct fund flows from Taiwan to China.

More than 20 Taiwanese firms have listed shares in Hong Kong.

Hon Hai has production facilities in Shenzhen, China, and other countries, including the U.K. and U.S. Its net profit in 2003 was NT$22.83 billion,

Among Foxconn's major customers is Sony Corp. (6758.TO), for which it makes parts for PlayStation videogames.

-By Carmen Chan, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2802-7002; carmen.chan@dowjones.com

-Edited by Andrew Bullard

(END) Dow Jones Newswires"

Posted to the site on 3rd January 2005