US-based consumer electronics producer Vizio filed for a $172.5m initial public offering on Friday that will provide an exit to two of its manufacturing partners, AmTran Technology and Foxconn.
Founded in 2002, Vizio is best known for producing affordable flat screen televisions but also sells other audio and visual equipment.
The company has sold approximately 65 million units in total, and made a net profit of almost $31.4m in the first six months of 2015 from revenue of more than $1.3bn.
Vizio has not revealed details of any past equity funding, but its business model involves it developing its own technology and subcontracting the manufacturing process to strategic partners that include electronics manufacturer AmTran and contract manufacturer Foxconn.
Taiwan-based AmTran is Vizio’s largest external shareholder, owning a 20.4% stake. Vizio’s other shareholders include Q-Run Holdings, a subsidiary of Taiwan-based Foxconn that holds a 8.3% stake, and V-TW Holdings, an investment vehicle that owns 7.7%.
The underwriters for the IPO are Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank Securities, Citigroup Global Markets, BMO Capital Markets, Piper Jaffray, Wells Fargo Securities and Roth Capital Partners.