MStar Semiconductor Inc (晨星半導體), an IC design house registered in the Cayman Islands, has filed an application with the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp (TWSE, 台灣證交所) for a primary listing, the exchange regulator announced on its Web site on Friday.
MStar, which industry analysts have viewed as a likely competitor to local fabless chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科), is headquartered in Hsinchu, with a sales office in Taipei City’s Neihu District (內湖). It mainly provides mixed-signal IC solutions for consumer electronics applications.
The TWSE, however, did not specify the number of shares MStar plans to sell in its initial public offering (IPO), or the total amount of funds it aims to raise.
MStar chairman Wayne Liang (梁公偉) said in October last year that the company expected to complete the IPO application process in 12 to 14 months, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported at the time.
With a paid-in capital of NT$1.39 billion (US$43.5 million), MStar posted NT$3.26 billion in net profits in the first half of this year, on revenue of NT$16.1 billion. Net profits were NT$4.82 billion last year on revenue of NT$27.71 billion, compared with NT$2.6 billion and revenue of NT$15 billion in 2008, according to the TWSE.
MStar’s IPO application followed similar actions taken by the US-based IC designer Integrated Memory Logic Inc, Gourmet Master Co, which owns cafe and bakery chain 85°C, Cayman Islands-registered bulk shipper Wisdom Marine Lines Co (慧洋海運) and Airtac International Group (亞德客國際集團), a Chinese automation control equipment maker.
Integrated Memory started trading its shares in May. The TWSE said earlier about 50 foreign companies had expressed interest in making a primary listing in Taiwan.
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