China major chipmaker-backed firm set for top Asia IPO this year

A CHIP foundry backed by China’s top semiconductor firm is set to raise US$1.4 billion in Asia’s biggest initial public offering (IPO) so far this year, as Beijing ramps up efforts to finance its tech race against Washington.

Targeting proceeds of 9.63 billion yuan, Semiconductor Manufacturing Electronics Shaoxing is selling 1.69 billion shares at 5.69 yuan apiece on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style STAR board, with subscriptions to begin on Wednesday (Apr 25), according to a filing to the exchange.

If successful, the share float of the firm backed by Chinese chip giant Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) will surpass a 7.84 billion yuan real estate investment trust offering last month to lead the region’s IPO tally in 2023. The offering comes as another major domestic chip firm is also planning a large stock listing on the STAR board this year.

A SMIC unit directly holds a 19.6 per cent stake in the Zhejiang province-based IPO aspirant, while SMIC also owns stakes in some of its other top shareholders. The pricing implies a price-to-sales ratio of 8.4 times based on 2022 sales, versus an industry average of 5.4 times over the past month, according to the filing.

The listing would give Semiconductor Manufacturing Electronics Shaoxing, which had a revenue of 4.6 billion yuan last year, a market value of 38.5 billion yuan.

In another sign of Beijing’s efforts to mobilise resources to galvanise its tech aspirations, Changxin Memory Technologies is planning to file for an IPO this year that could value the local rival of Samsung Electronics at north of US$14.5 billion, Bloomberg News reported last week. BLOOMBERG