(Yicai) Aug. 10 -- Chinese white goods firm Midea Group, which is listed in Shenzhen, is pursuing a secondary offering on the Hong Kong stock exchange in order to consolidate its global positioning.

Midea will issue no more than 10 percent of its enlarged total share capital in Hong Kong, the Foshan, southern Guangdong province-based firm said yesterday, citing the decision made by its Board of Directors.

If Midea succeeds, it will be its second foray into the Hong Kong capital market. In 2007, it listed its electromechanical unit Hualing Group through a reverse merger.

Midea, which slipped 33 places on the Fortune Global 500 this year to rank 278th, has been undergoing a major change in strategy in order to find new revenue streams as the household appliance sector reaches a plateau.

The firm is actively expanding its global footprint. Its investments last year in the US, Brazil, Germany, Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations were part of its strategy to break into the world market, the firm said last month. Work started on the firm’s new plant in Brazil in April. Costing CNY700 million (USD98 million) it will have an annual capacity of 1.3 million refrigerators once complete.

Midea has been active in the capital market this year. It is spinning off its lighting unit Midea Intelligent Lighting & Controls Technology for listing on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange’s Nasdaq-style ChiNext stock market and is preparing to calve off its smart logistics arm Annto Logistics Technology for a separate listing on the main board in Shenzhen.

It is in the process of transitioning into a global technology group and is putting more emphasis on emerging sectors, such as robots, electric systems and new energies.

Midea bought a majority stake of 22.7 percent in smart meter and energy storage developer Clou Electronics in May. And in June it hiked its holdings in Hiconics Eco-Energy Technology to 37.5 percent from 18.8 percent.

The firm’s revenue from the three emerging sectors of robots, electric systems and new energies surged 20 percent last year from the year before. Midea will continue to focus on these areas, Chairman and President Fang Hongbo said at the 2022 shareholders’ meeting.

Meanwhile, its business-to-business segment logged CNY90 billion (USD12.6 billion) in revenue last year. This helped keep Midea’s revenue on an even keel, edging up 0.7 percent last year from the year before to CNY343.9 billion (USD47.7 billion).

Midea’s share price [SHE:000333] was trading down 3.5 percent at CNY55.53 (USD7.71) as of 12 noon China time today.

Editor: Kim Taylor