Exclusive | iPhone’s biggest screen maker seeks to raise HK$10 billion in Hong Kong IPO

Every swipe on a smartphone brings a smile to Yeung Kin-man’s face. He is the founder of Biel Crystal Manufactory, the world’s largest producer of cover glass, used in two of every three of Apple’s iPhones sold in the world.

Yeung plans to sell Biel’s shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange this year, aiming to raise more than HK$10 billion in what would be the city’s second-biggest initial public offering of 2017. The 64-year-old tycoon is seeking capital to expand into industries with higher returns, such as property development in Hong Kong and China.

“No industry can keep growing,” Yeung said in an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post. “I hope to develop property as a new basket of our businesses.”

Yeung is no stranger to properties, having paid HK$2.8 billion in January for a mansion on The Peak in Hong Kong. He has accumulated land in the city’s Kwun Tong district, as well as in Huizhou in China, where Biel runs a factory with 80,000 workers.

The property industry is a good bet, because “phones will become valueless if they fail to attract buyers,” he said. “The value of a good location will continue to rise even if you do not develop it, and just sit on the plot of land for years.”

Biel – its Chinese name (伯恩) is a word play on the phrase “blessed” – was founded in 1987. Yeung began his career producing glass for Hong Kong’s dwindling watchmaking industry during the 1970s, opening his first factory with 100 staff.