By Yantoultra Ngui
Chinese AI chip designer, Shanghai Biren Technology HKEX:6082, plans to raise about $801 million to $838 million through a share placement in Hong Kong, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters on Friday night.
Below are details from the sheet and context:
Biren is offering 136 million new Hong Kong shares at HK$46.20 to HK$48.30 ($6.16) each. The price range is a 5.8% to 9.9% discount to the stock's last close of HK$51.30 on Friday.
The shares equal about 5.6% of the company's current share capital and about 5.3% after the sale.
China is pushing local firms to produce more homegrown chips, after U.S. export curbs limited access to some advanced foreign technology.
Biren plans to use the funds to enhance research and development, speed up the sale and production of next-generation products, make strategic investments and acquisitions, and for working capital and general corporate purposes.
The shares are expected to trade on July 6.
Biren was listed in Hong Kong in early January.
It raised HK$5.6 billion from the listing and its shares have surged about 162% from the offer price of HK$19.60 to Friday's close.
Founded in 2019, Biren designs chips and computing systems for artificial intelligence and drew attention in 2022 with its BR100 chip, which the industry views as a Chinese rival to advanced Nvidia NASDAQ:NVDA processors.
Biren did not respond to an emailed request seeking comment outside working hours on Friday night.
($1 = 7.8430 Hong Kong dollars)