DeHeng Advised SMIC on Listing on SSE STAR Market
2020-07-16
On July 16, 2020, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation ("SMIC", SSE STAR MARKET: 688981; SEHK: 00981) was officially listed on the STAR Market of Shanghai Stock Exchange, making it the first overseas red-chip listed enterprise on the A-share market. After its IPO application was accepted, it took SMIC only 19 days to obtain CSRC approval and 29 days to obtain the registration approval, the fastest IPO review and approval in the STAR Market history.
SMIC issued 1,685.62 million shares at the price of RMB 27.46 per share, and raised RMB 46.287 billion. If the overallotment option was fully exercised, the total fund raised would amount to RMB 53.23 billion, setting a new record of fund raising in the STAR Market. This is the biggest A-share IPO by a semiconductor enterprise in terms of the financing scale in history, and the biggest A-share IPO in the past decade.
SMIC is a red-chip company established on the Cayman Islands and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It is one of the world's leading integrated-circuit (IC) wafer foundries, and also the specialized wafer foundry in Chinese mainland with the most advanced technologies, the largest scale, the most complete supporting services and multinational operations. It mainly provides clients with foundry and supporting services on IC wafer of process nodes from 0.35 micron to 14 nanometer and on different process platforms.
SMIC's listing on the STAR Market sets a good example for other high-quality semiconductor companies and overseas-listed red-chip companies to return to or list on the A-share market. It also marks that the policy environment is ready for domestic semiconductor companies to list on the A-share market, which is conducive to attracting other high-quality semiconductor companies to follow suit. In this way, the capital market will be able to truly promote the growth of the core technology industries, and spur the domestic semiconductor industry to catch up with and even lead the international advanced level. SMIC is a trailblazer in the domestic semiconductor industry, with strategic and critical importance. SMIC's return to A-share is conducive to further increase its investment in R&D and narrow the gap with international advanced technology, and the process of semiconductor localization will formally enter a new stage.
As the legal counsel for the sponsor (the lead underwriter), the DeHeng team was composed of partners Xu Jianjun, Wang Yuwei, Shen Hongshan and Wang Jianfeng, and lawyers and paralegals Yang Yong, Tang Sijie, Wei Feng, Fang Li, Li Susu and Pan Xuguang. They provided professional, efficient, high-quality and whole-process legal services for the IPO, including but not limited to the preparation, revision and validation of the prospectus, collation of working papers, analysis and discussion of major legal issues, comparative study on the application of listing rules in Shanghai and Hong Kong, and reply to feedback opinions.
Up to now, in addition to SMIC, DeHeng has provided legal services for the IPO of ThinkonSemi, Chipown, Guangdong Leadyo Chip Testing, Leadmicro, Circuit Fabology Microelectronics Equipment, and Estone Group and many other companies which are engaged in wafer foundry, material and equipment manufacturing, chip design, packaging, and testing in the semiconductor and IC industries. We have also advised the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, CAS Holdings, Beijing E-town International Investment & Development Co., Ltd., Tsinghua Unigroup, CRRC Capital Management, Bohai Sea Fund, Hetong Optic-Electric, NXP, MEMSIC and MEMSensing, on investment, financing, M&A and intellectual property rights in the semiconductor and IC industries.
