Hisense Electric approved to issue up to 150 mln shares

Jul. 3, 2009 (China Knowledge) - Hisense Electric Co Ltd<600060>, a Qingdao-based TV manufacturer, on Wednesday obtained approval from its shareholders to issue up to 150 million shares at RMB 10.83 apiece through a private placement, sources reported.

Hisense Electric plans to raise up to RMB 1.5 billion through the private placement, according to a statement the firm filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange last month.

The proceeds from the share issuance will be used to invest in light emitting diode (LED) color TV production as well as liquid crystal display (LCD) module production, said the firm.

Hisense Electric will build five production lines for light emitting diode backlight unit (LED BLU) TVs and another five for LCD modules.

LED TVs feature more energy-savings and improved color and contrast and are super-slim compared with LCD TVs. In order to grasp a share in the high-end Chinese TV market, Samsung and Sony launched new LED TV models in China in April.

Chinese TV manufactures such as TCL Corp<000100> and Skyworth Group, the parent of Skyworth Digital Holdings Ltd<0751>, also said LED TVs will be their marketing focus in the second half year of this year.

However, the LED TV models available in China are large models with screens of at least 42 inches, since Chinese TV manufactures have not initiated mass production of LED TVs.