BYD Company Limited, the Chinese electric car maker backed by US investor Warren Buffett, has suspended plans to list its computer chip division following a regulatory probe into the law firm advising the company.
The Shenzen Stock Exchange announced at the weekend that it had suspended its review of BYD Semiconductor’s plans for an initial public offering because Tian Yuan Law Firm was being investigated by China's Security Regulatory Commission in relation to the listing, the BBC reported.
BYD is the latest company to be hit by the Chinese authorities’ crackdown on share offerings.
A number of other IPO plans advised by Tian Yuan have also been suspended, but no reasons were given for the investigations, Nikkei Asia reported.
BYD, which filed its plan to list on Shenzen's Nasdaq style market ChiNext in May, had aimed to raise around $413mln from the listing.
BYD Semiconductor is China's biggest maker of microcontroller chips for vehicles. BYD planned to plough the money from the IPO back into its car business, as global carmakers struggle with a shortage of computer chips, the BBC said.