Foxconn to use proceeds from unit's Shanghai IPO to fund $4 billion projects

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Taiwan's Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, said it plans to use proceeds from a Shanghai listing of one if its subsidiaries to fund eight projects totaling 27.3 billion yuan ($4 billion). In January, Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, said its shareholders had approved a plan to list its subsidiary, Foxconn Industrial Internet Co Ltd (FII), on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. FII said in a listing prospectus to the China Securities Regulatory Commission late on Friday that the eight projects were focused on building smart manufacturing platforms, cloud computing services and 5G solutions. FII, which makes electronic devices, cloud service equipment and industrial robots, did not provide details on the size or timing of the initial public offering. A Hon Hai unit, China Galaxy Enterprises Limited, directly and indirectly owns 69 percent of FII that was founded in March 2015, according to the prospectus. China International Capital Corporation is the sponsor and lead underwriter for the IPO. FII made a net profit of 16.2 billion yuan in 2017, according to the filing, representing a compounded annual growth rate of 6.32 percent from 14.4 billion yuan in 2015. Revenue reached 354.5 billion yuan last year, representing an annual growth of 14 percent from 2015. FII said its main clients include Amazon, Apple, ARRIS, Cisco, Dell, HPE, Huawei, Lenovo, NetApp, Nokia and nVidia. (Reporting by Sijia Jiang)