Skyworth Group Ltd. (0751.HK; 000810.SZ), a pioneer on China’s tech scene as a leading TV maker in the 1990s, has become a company with many moving pieces lately. It was one of the first from its class when it listed in Hong Kong in 2000, and looks set to end that run with a de-listing plan announced last month.
But that’s hardly the end of its story. Over the years its founder, the colorful Huang Hongsheng, found himself in jail for three years for embezzlement, and has launched an electric vehicle (EV) company since his release in 2009. He left the original Skyworth some time back, and handed it over to his son, Lin Jin, who became chairman in 2022.
Now, Lin may be putting his own stamp on the company with not only the privatization plan, but also another plan revealed last week to take over a big chunk of the global sales business for Japan’s Panasonic (6752.T) TV brand. The plan comes just a month after Chinese rival TCL Electronics (1070.HK) did a similar deal to take over the TV and home audio business of consumer electronics giant Sony through the establishment of a joint venture.