BenQ sells Taoyuan County facility to affiliate Darfon

By Jason Tan  /  STAFF REPORTER , WITH BLOOMBERG

Sat, Aug 11, 2007 - Page 11

BenQ Corp (明基), a Taiwanese consumer electronics maker, yesterday said it has sold a facility in Taoyuan County to affiliate Darfon Electronics Corp (達方電子) for NT$500 million (US$15 million).

The sale will be primarily aimed at raising funds in a bid to revitalize the company's financial structure, the company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.

Darfon will occupy the building in Kueishan Township (龜山), which spans over 10,282m2, and there is a possibility they will construct office headquarters, the statement said.

Darfon makes keyboards for notebook computers and power adapters for televisions. BenQ, based in Taoyuan, is Darfon's largest shareholder, with a 58.3 percent stake as of the end of last year, the stock exchange filing said.

SIX QUARTERS

The electronics maker has posted six straight quarterly losses. It has sold assets to help repay debt after its chairman Lee Kun-yao (李焜耀) failed to lead the company to a profit following the 2005 acquisition of Siemens AG's mobile-phone unit. The company's total liabilities stood at NT$60.7 billion at the end of March, while it had NT$6.45 billion in cash.

In May, BenQ said it would sell its digital camera business to Ability Enterprise Co (佳能) for an unspecified amount.

OFFICE BUILDINGS

On July 10, the company signed an agreement with insurer Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) to sell two office buildings in Taipei for NT$5.37 billion, posting a profit of NT$1.21 billion from the transaction.

Sales of the buildings, in combination with the disposal of other unspecified long-term investments, will generate over NT$10 billion this year, the company said.