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¡¡¡¡BEIJING, Nov. 10 -- SVA Group has outlined plans to build a US$6 billion
thin-screen TV and computer monitor-making complex in Shanghai and float shares
by 2007, aiming to become a leading producer of the high-tech screens.
¡¡¡¡Shanghai-based SVA said it expects total investment in
the base, which will
specialise in production of thin film transistor liquid crystal display
(TFT-LCD) panels, to reach US$6 billion by 2010.
¡¡¡¡It has already invested US$1 billion in the site in Shanghai to build the
factory in a joint venture with Japan's NEC Corp., and has plans to build a
second production line.
¡¡¡¡The complex it hopes to build is expected to crank out US$10 billion worth
of panels and their related components annually by 2010, SVA executives said.
¡¡¡¡The company has hired an investment bank to help to find additional
investors to enter the joint venture, with plans to raise another US$200 million
and US$300 million, SVA Group president Gu Peizhu said.
¡¡¡¡Its maiden TFT-LCD production line is already profitable, Gu added. "We
chose the year 2007 for an IPO because we hope to be profitable in 2006," he
said.
¡¡¡¡SVA is in a race with a growing number of competitors to set up TFT-LCD
production in China, as firms rush to cash in on production of the panels that
are the central component in large, thin-screen LCD televisions and thin-screen
computer monitors.
¡¡¡¡Such panels can be highly profitable, but their production is complex and
individual factories often require investment of US$1 billion or more.
¡¡¡¡Beijing-based BOE Technology Group Co. is SVA's only homegrown rival with
an operational production line, which it too is hoping to help finance with an
overseas initial public offering.
¡¡¡¡Two other plants, one in the city of Kunshan near Shanghai and the other in
northern China's Shandong Province, have also been announced in recent months,
both reportedly with Taiwanese backing.
¡¡¡¡Taking a page from BOE, SVA is aiming to help finance its ambitious TFT-LCD
production plans in part through an overseas IPO in 2007, Gu said.
¡¡¡¡SVA, BOE and the other two planned manufacturers will compete with some of
the world's top TFT-LCD producers, including South Korea's Samsung Electronics
and LGPhilips LCD Co., and Taiwan's AU Optronics.
¡¡¡¡(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)
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