Lenovo Mobile, the former handset unit of Lenovo Group, is set to go public soon, according to the chief executive of the venture-capital firm that purchased the company.

"Lenovo Mobile will definitely be listed, and it will happen very soon," said John Zhao, CEO of Hony Capital, according to a report (in Chinese) by China Business News.

However, Zhao did not say when or where the company would be listed, according to the report.

Lenovo, which is listed in Hong Kong, completed the sale of its handset unit on March 31 in a deal valued at $100 million. Hony Capital, which led the buyout, is the private-equity arm of Legend Holdings, the PC maker's parent company and largest shareholder.

Lenovo's decision to divest the handset unit helped narrow the company's focus to its core computer business. The company's cell-phone sales had been limited to China, and the unit struggled in recent months in the face of tough competition.

During the quarter ended on Dec. 31, 2007, handsets accounted for 2.4% of Lenovo's total sales, or $108 million. At that time, Lenovo claimed to have 5.9% of China's handset market, putting the company in fourth place among cell-phone vendors. But the unit was in trouble.

Cell phone sales fell 26% over the same period one year earlier, when the company reported $146 million in sales. But that number represented a drop of 19% over the year before.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.