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Rowell Yang Long-san, chairman and CEO of Proview International Holdings Ltd. Photo: AP

Proview faces more requirements to resume trading in Hong Kong

Stocks exchange says company will be treated as if it were a new listing applicant

IPO

Proview International must comply with new listing requirements, as the company plots an acquisition of an undisclosed electronics firm to kick-start its operations and resume trading of its shares in Hong Kong.

The failed computer monitor manufacturer is the parent of Proview Technology (Shenzhen), which received a record US$60 million settlement from Apple in June to end their lengthy dispute over the "iPad" trademarks on the mainland.

In a filing at the weekend, Proview International chairman Sun Min said the Hong Kong stock exchange's listing committee told the firm that its proposed acquisition "constitutes a reverse takeover under Rule 14.06" of the listing rules.

That made Rule 14.54 also applicable in Proview International's case, which meant the company "will be treated as if it were a new listing applicant", Sun said.

A reverse takeover is a type of merger used by private companies to become publicly traded without resorting to an initial public offering.

In November, Yu Ming Investment Management, Proview International's financial adviser, filed a revised resumption proposal that addressed the committee's concerns after Proview International's initial proposal was rejected on June 13. The revised proposal said the targeted acquisition had been in business for more than three years, had experienced management, and had been under the same ownership in the past financial year.

After a review of that revised proposal, the committee last month set aside the cancellation of Proview International's listing status. The firm had been in the final stage of delisting procedures since December 30, 2011.

Proview International now must submit a new listing application for the revised resumption proposal to the Hong Kong stock exchange by July 31.

The committee also wanted "information that addresses the issue on material dilution of the existing shareholders' interest in the company".

In addition to all applicable listing rules, Proview International was also told to address complaints against existing and former directors of the company, meet outstanding resumption conditions previously imposed by the committee, and demonstrate that an "adequate internal control system is in place".

The shares of Proview International, which went public in June 1997, were suspended from trading at its request on August 2, 2010, as the firm scrambled to restructure and sell off its main assets on the mainland to pay debts. Apple's big payout did not help the firm's Shenzhen subsidiary from being put up for liquidation in October, following its loss to creditor Fubon Insurance in a case tried in Guangdong.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Proview's return must meet IPO test
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