Hisense Group, one of China's top TV and appliance makers, is exploring an overseas public offering as it embarks on a long-term campaign to boost its name outside its home market, the company chairman said last Thursday.

Hisense, which has a domestically listed arm whose shares are off-limits to most foreigners, would most likely pursue a listing in Hong Kong, with an aim of not only raising money but also boosting awareness of its brand on the global stage, chairman Zhou Houjian told reporters.

One possible scenario could see the company do a "backdoor" offering using the existing Hong Kong listing of troubled appliance maker Kelon, which Hisense is in the process of acquiring.

"We should know by the first half of this year if that acquisition will close," Zhou said in an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show, the industry's premier exhibition taking place last week in Las Vegas.

"Will (an overseas IPO) happen this year? That's hard to say. We hope it will be soon -- maybe within two to three years. We haven't made a final decision," Zhou said.

The listing would come as Hisense, based in Qingdao, Shandong Province, seeks to boost awareness of its name outside China in an effort to export more of its own brand products, which typically carry fatter profit margins than those bearing other companies' names.

Current clients who buy Hisense products but sell them under their own names include US-based computer and printer giant Hewlett-Packard, Japan's NEC and France's Carrefour.

The company scored a small victory last year when US retailer Best Buy agreed to sell Hisense brand TV sets in addition to Hisense models bearing its own brand name.

"The Hisense brand has only been in foreign markets for a short time," Zhou said. "We hope we can become a well-known brand by 2010."

(Shenzhen Daily January 9, 2006)