Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - BenQ Plans Fabless Spin-Off

TAIWAN – In an attempt at a major turnaround for BenQ Corp., the Taiwanese ODM's board of directors approved a plan to spin off its branded business and morph to a fabless model.

BenQ will be renamed Jia Da Corp., while the spinoff will take the name BenQ. The new company will be a fully owned subsidiary of Jia Da Corp.The plan is subject to approval by shareholders on June 15; the company's board has set the spinoff for Sept. 1.

BenQ said the branded company will be a fabless company with integration of 3C technology in the fields of product design, mobile communications, mechanical and material engineering, and network convergence technologies. All BenQ global sales and marketing departments and related R&D units, the lifestyle design center, and part of the advanced technology center will be transferred to the new unit.

BenQ said Jia Da Corp. will be positioned as a 3C integrated manufacturing service provider, focusing on the fields of display, optoelectronic devices, mobile devices and infotainment solutions.

K.Y. Lee, Jerry Wang and Conway Lee have been appointed as chairman, vice chairman and president of the spun-off BenQ Corp., respectively. K.Y. Lee and Sheaffer Lee will continue to serve as chairman and president of Jia Da Corp., respectively.

The company posted a $600 million loss for the first nine months of 2006.