China memory giant CXMT valued at US$85 billion in record Shanghai IPO

China’s leading memory chipmaker, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), has priced its Shanghai initial public offering at 8.66 yuan (US$1.28) apiece, positioning the company for the largest listing by a Chinese semiconductor company on a mainland bourse.

The firm, based in Hefei, Anhui province, is expected to raise gross proceeds of 57.9 billion yuan (US$8.5 billion) from the sale of nearly 6.7 billion shares, according to an offering announcement released on Tuesday.

The shares represent 10 per cent of the company’s enlarged capital, giving CXMT an implied valuation of 579 billion yuan (US$85.2 billion) upon listing on Shanghai’s Star Market.

If a 15 per cent overallotment option is fully exercised, the offering could expand to 7.7 billion shares and raise up to 66.6 billion yuan (US$9.83 billion).

Online and offline subscriptions will take place on Thursday, but CXMT has not yet announced a trading debut date.

The fundraising haul is nearly double the 29.5 billion yuan that CXMT had earmarked for investment projects in its prospectus, and the offering is set to surpass the 2020 Shanghai listing of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, which raised 53.23 billion yuan. That makes CXMT’s deal the largest A-share IPO by a Chinese chip company.