Listing candidate Global Flex, a maker of flexible printed circuit boards, will spend US$60 million building a plant in northern China in a bid to expand its customer base into Japan and South Korea. The Suzhou-based company hopes to raise up to US$75 million in an initial public offering next month. 'The company plans to diversify away from its current 62 per cent dependence on Motorola,' GC Capital brokerage said in a research report. Motorola accounted for US$165.7 million of the company's turnover last year. Net profit was US$25.1 million, about four times that in 2003. The brokerage said it believed the firm was in the process of building relationships with a number of potential major customers in north Asia. The new plant, which will take 18 months to build, should increase Global Flex's output of flexible printed circuit boards by 60 per cent. GC Capital said that by 2007, the mainland would have captured 20 per cent of the world market, well ahead of Korea and Taiwan and competing directly with Japan, which now accounts for 31 per cent of the global market. However, the report noted two investment risks for Global Flex - a heavy reliance on Motorola and intense competition. DBS Vickers said in a research report that the company relied heavily on the telecommunications sector, which accounted for more than 75 per cent of its turnover last year.