A Namchow Holding Co (南僑投資控股) subsidiary is expected to become the first Taiwanese food firm to launch an initial public offering (IPO) in China at a time when many local companies are eyeing high valuations in the nation’s equity market.
Namchow Holding on Friday last week held a special general meeting, during which it secured approval from shareholders to take Namchow Food Group (Shanghai) Co (上海南僑食品集團) public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
The unit is planning to submit an IPO application to the China Securities Regulatory Commission in the third quarter.
The IPO is likely to take place at the end of the year or early next year, analysts said.
Expectations that the IPO is to proceed quickly rose after the commission on Thursday approved Foxconn Industrial Internet Co’s (FII, 富士康工業互聯網) 27 billion yuan (US$4.26 billion) IPO on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
FII, an Internet-focused unit of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), obtained a green light just 36 days after applying.
The speedy review represents a sharp departure from the commission’s usual practice of taking more than a year to review an IPO plan.
FII’s offering is likely to be launched by the end of this month.
Namchow Holding said it has been preparing for the Shanghai IPO for about a year, and since China is opening its doors to allow more listings, it is expected to proceed smoothly as yuan-denominated A shares.
Namchow Holding chairman Alfred Chen (陳飛龍) said the company has operated in the Chinese market for 21 years and the planned IPO aims to raise funds to further expand operations there, while looking to international markets.
Namchow Shanghai, which is capitalized at 360 million yuan, has focused its business on edible oil and frozen dough, while operating several restaurant brands.
If the IPO is successful, Namchow Shanghai’s market visibility would improve, which will help it raise more funds and attract talent, Chen said.
Namchow Holding last year generated NT$17.2 billion in consolidated sales, up 5.42 percent from 2016, with its China operations contributing about NT$7 billion.
The company aims to increase its revenue to NT$20 billion by 2020, with China sales expected to contribute NT$10 billion.
With an approval rating of just two percent, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte might be the world’s most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed “Rolexgate.” She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is
CAUTIOUS RECOVERY: While the manufacturing sector returned to growth amid the US-China trade truce, firms remain wary as uncertainty clouds the outlook, the CIER said The local manufacturing sector returned to expansion last month, as the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose 2.1 points to 51.0, driven by a temporary easing in US-China trade tensions, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The PMI gauges the health of the manufacturing industry, with readings above 50 indicating expansion and those below 50 signaling contraction. “Firms are not as pessimistic as they were in April, but they remain far from optimistic,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference. The full impact of US tariff decisions is unlikely to become clear until later this month
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
CHIP DUTIES: TSMC said it voiced its concerns to Washington about tariffs, telling the US commerce department that it wants ‘fair treatment’ to protect its competitiveness Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reiterated robust business prospects for this year as strong artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand from Nvidia Corp and other customers would absorb the impacts of US tariffs. “The impact of tariffs would be indirect, as the custom tax is the importers’ responsibility, not the exporters,” TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said at the chipmaker’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu City. TSMC’s business could be affected if people become reluctant to buy electronics due to inflated prices, Wei said. In addition, the chipmaker has voiced its concern to the US Department of Commerce