Foxconn Industrial Internet, a subsidiary of the world's largest contract manufacturer Foxconn, announced plans to raise up to 27.1 billion yuan ($4.26 billion) in what will be the biggest IPO in the Chinese mainland in almost three years.
The Foxconn unit, which is known as FII and makes electronic devices, cloud service equipment and industrial robots, is offering up to 1.97 billion shares at 13.77 yuan per share in Shanghai, according to a statement it filed to the stock exchange late on Tuesday.
With 10 percent of its enlarged capital offered in the IPO, FII would have a valuation of about $43 billion at its listing.?
Bookbuilding for the IPO is scheduled on Thursday.
The listing is widely seen as a step for Terry Gou's Foxconn, a major Apple supplier formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, to wean itself off heavy reliance on manufacturing smartphones for the US-based iPhone maker and diversify into new areas.
Foxconn has signaled previously that FII will launch projects in areas including smart manufacturing, industrial internet, cloud computing, and fifth-generation wireless technologies.
At about $43 billion, the unit's valuation would not be far behind parent company Foxconn's market capitalization of about $49 billion.
The IPO's pricing represents 17 times FII's historical earnings, well below the valuation cap of 23 times favored by Chinese regulators.
FII plans to sell 30 percent of its public share offering to a group of strategic investors in a rare move for deals in the mainland.
The strategic investors are not being called cornerstones - investors who accept a lock-up period in return for large allocation - but will function as such, with its investments tied up for between one and three years.?
In an additional unusual move, 70 percent of institutional investors' allocated shares will also be locked up for 12 months.
The IPO ranks as the fourth-largest in the Chinese mainland over the past decade, after China State Construction Engineering, which raised $7.3 billion in 2009, China Railway Construction, which sold shares worth $5.7 billion in 2008, and Guotai Junan Securities, which raised $4.8 billion in 2015.
