China's Yangtze Memory IPO Inquiry Stage... Procedures Proceeding Smoothly

[Financial News] Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC), China's No. 1 flash memory company, has smoothly entered the next stage following its application for an initial public offering (IPO). The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), which will review YMTC's IPO, sent its first inquiry to YMTC on the 3rd.
According to local and foreign media reports on the 4th, this means the initial public offering (IPO) process moved to the inquiry stage just 13 days after the application was submitted. This generally matches the pace of procedures for companies recently pursuing IPOs.
At this stage, authorities require the disclosure of additional information and explanations regarding the company's operations, finances, risk factors, etc.
Some foreign media outlets interpreted this as a sign that the process is proceeding smoothly, despite initial concerns that the YMTC IPO would be delayed.
There were concerns that authorities would slow down the progress of YMTC this time due to the lack of market liquidity caused by ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT)'s large-scale IPO last July.
YMTC announced in its IPO application submitted to the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) on the 21st that it plans to raise 33 billion yuan (approximately 6.9 trillion won). It stated that the funds raised will primarily be invested in upgrading production facilities and research and development (R&D).
Li Minghong, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of E-Tiger Private Fund Partners, said, "During the inquiry phase, regulatory authorities may suspend the listing if they determine that a large-scale IPO will have a negative impact on the market."
He added, "At this point, it is difficult to determine whether the priority is to support financing for production expansion by domestic conglomerates, or to revitalize the market by curbing large-scale IPOs."
Recently, Deep Robotics received its first inquiry from the exchange nine days after submitting its listing application, while Shanghai Yingguan Semiconductor received its first inquiry 13 days later.
For Shanghai Enflame Technology, an artificial intelligence (AI) chip manufacturer whose subscription competition rate for individual investors reached 4,073 to 1, this period was 20 days. YMTC is expected to respond to the exchange's inquiries within the next few weeks and may subsequently move on to the listing review stage.


[email protected] Lee Seok-woo, International Specialist Reporter