Breaking news: Zhonghuan Semiconductor up for sale

State-owned Chinese solar manufacturer Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor Co Ltd is up for sale after parent company Tianjin Zhonghuan Group announced plans to accept outside investment had been approved by Beijing.

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the municipal government of Tianjin on Monday approved a plan to sell a partial stake in the business – or all of it – to private investors.

Beijing looks favorably on mixed state and private ownership of public companies because of perceived performance benefits.

Talks

While no details were revealed about any requirements to be placed on private investors, a business insider told pv magazine at least one company is in deep discussion about acquiring a stake in the Shanghai-listed business.

That investor, though, is thought to be Shenzhen-listed electronics company TCL Technology Group, which is itself partially state owned even if founder Li Dongsheng is the controlling shareholder. Guangzhou-based TCL has an annual income of around $16.8 billion and produces domestic electricity applications and semi-conductor displays as well as boasting a finance and investment business.

Such a tie-up would give TCL a route into upstream semiconductor manufacturing and offer a cash boost for solar manufacturer Tianjin Zhonghuan.

Rumors of the proposed investment or acquisition lifted the share price of both companies around 7% this week.