Lenovo Founder Liu Chuanzhi gives a speech at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. (Photo : www.wantchinatimes.com)
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has approved the plan of Legend Holdings, parent company of Chinese tech giant Lenovo Group, for an initial public offering (IPO) worth around $2 billion, the China Business Network reported.
The report said that the company plans to start soliciting Hong Kong investors for listing next week, and if the feedback is positive, it will launch the IPO the following week, based on its plan.
Liu Chuanzhi, president of Legend Holdings and founder of Lenovo, said in a previous interview that he plans to take a public offer of his company on one of China's domestic exchanges from 2014 to 2016 before he retires.
Liu founded Lenovo as Legend in Beijing in 1984. It was incorporated in Hong Kong in 1988, but the company's development was limited to the information technology area until 2000.
The company changed its organizational structure in 2001 and diversified into other business areas that cover financial services, real estate, chemical materials and food stuffs.
Yang Yuanqing, the company chairman, decided to drop the use of the Legend brand name in 2002, as it planned to expand the business outside of China.
The business model of the conglomerate, which now has 10 subsidiaries, is characterized by strategic investments and operations.
The report said that Legend's revenue amounted to 244 billion yuan ($39.8 billion) in 2013, with total assets of 207 billion yuan ($33.8 billion).
Lenovo posted a 14-percent rise in revenue to $38.7 billion for the full year ending March 2014, due to growing sales of smartphones and personal computers.
Legend has 65,385 employees and 1,865 of them are outside China, according to its website.
