(Yicai Global) April 22 -- Efort Intelligent Equipment, one of China's biggest makers of industrial robots, is planning an initial public offering of shares in the mainland.

Wuhu, Anhui province-based Efort penned an IPO advisory agreement with Guosen Securities in January, according to a document released on the website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission's provincial branch. It did not reveal any specific details of the listing plan.

Set up in 2007, Efort was born out of the equipment division of Chery Automobile and makes 10,000 industrial robots and pieces of intelligent equipment a year. In addition to a production base in China, Efort has 13 subsidiaries in Italy, Germany, Poland, France and Brazil.

The firm is also working on the next generation of smart industrial robots. Launched in February, this project has total investment of CNY120 million (USD17.9 million). When completed, it will have the capacity to produce 200 sets of intelligent robot systems and equipment each year.

Efort's biggest shareholder, with a 25.5 percent stake, is Wuhu Yuanhong Industrial Robot Investment, a joint venture between the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Wuhu and Midea Group, China's biggest maker of home appliances. Midea owns 5 percent of the JV and about 11 percent of Efort.