Chinese foundry ASMC to move ahead with IPO

(12/27/2004 10:36 AM EST)
    SAN JOSE, Calif. — Chinese silicon foundry provider Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (ASMC) is moving ahead with its initial public offering (IPO) despite unfavorable market conditions, according to a report from the South China Morning Post.

ASMC (Shanghai) hopes to raise between $100-to-$150 million in a listing slated for the first quarter of 2005, according to the report. The company hopes to become listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, according to the report.

ASMC faces an uphill battle in the IPO market amid a slowdown in the IC industry. Shares in Chinese foundry provider Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) have fallen 38.9 percent since its listing, according to the report.

In the summer, CSMC Technologies Corp., a China-based foundry provider, cancelled a Hong Kong initial public offering, previously scheduled to take place this week, according to reports (see June 21 story).

Royal Philips Electronics and Shanghai Belling own stakes in ASMC. In 2003, Jazz Semiconductor Inc. of the United States and ASMC formed a silicon manufacturing venture to which Jazz plans to contribute mixed-signal and radio-frequency (RF) technologies, including bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS) and silicon-germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS process technology, sales and marketing services. In turn ASMC is slated to provide capacity at its recently completed 200-mm wafer fabrication facility in Shanghai (see Jan. 31, 2003 story).