(Yicai) Sept. 10 -- Shares in Aerospace Hi-Tech Holding Group advanced as much as 3.8 percent today after the Chinese transportation equipment maker, which derives most of its revenue from vehicle electronics, said that it plans to sell All Circuits, a loss-making French automotive electronics manufacturer that it purchased almost eight years ago.

Aerospace Hi-Tech’s share price [SHE:000901] closed up 0.2 percent at CNY9.46 (USD1.30). Earlier in the day it hit CNY9.80.

Aerospace Hi-Tech plans to seek potential buyers for all of All Circuits’ equity on the Beijing Equity Exchange to help the company optimize its asset structure and raise funds for its aerospace applications products business, Aerospace Hi-Tech said yesterday.

All Circuits, which mainly makes electronic control modules for cars, had assets of CNY2.3 billion (USD323 million) and liabilities of CNY1.7 billion (USD238.8 million) as of June 30, Aerospace Hi-Tech said. In the first half it racked up losses of CNY18.8 million (USD2.6 million) and generated revenue of CNY1.6 billion (USD229 million).

In January 2016, Aerospace Hi-Tech paid CNY1.7 billion (USD238.8 million) to buy the two parent companies of All Circuits. At the time, the Meung-Sur-Loire-based firm ran two factories in France and one in Tunisia and counted automobile manufacturers such as BMW, Audi and Volkswagen, as well as parts suppliers including Bosch, Continental and Valeo, among its clients.

The acquisition was to expand Aerospace Hi-Tech’s overseas footprint and improve its technology and production capacity in automotive electronics, the firm said at the time. In 2017, Aerospace Hi-Tech invested in the construction of a fourth All Circuits factory in Mexico.

Aerospace Hi-Tech’s posted revenue of CNY5.4 billion (USD758.5 million) from the automotive electronics business last year, amounting to 80 percent of total revenue, according to the company’s latest annual financial report.

Editor: Kim Taylor