(July 21): BlackRock Inc, Hillhouse Investment and Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd are set to be among cornerstone investors in the potential US$8 billion (RM32.7 billion) listing by Zhongji Innolight Co in Hong Kong, according to people familiar with the matter.

Investment firms Aspex Management, JPMorgan Asset Management, Wellington Management Co and Jack Ma-backed Yunfeng Capital Co are also planning to participate as cornerstone investors, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

The cornerstone investors are expected to take up almost half of the deal, the people said. Such buyers get guaranteed allocation in exchange for holding the shares for a fixed period, typically six months.

Innolight, the world’s largest maker of optical transceivers that are essential in data centres, is planning to start taking investor orders as soon as Wednesday for what could be Hong Kong’s biggest share sale in seven years, the people said. While the base deal size will be around US$7 billion, the over-allotment option could push it to US$8 billion, they said.

Deliberations are ongoing and details of the offering including the cornerstone line-up may change, the people added.

Hillhouse, JPMorgan Asset Management, Temasek and Aspex declined to comment. BlackRock, Wellington and Yunfeng didn’t respond to emailed queries. Innolight also didn’t respond. 

On Monday, Innolight started gauging investor demand for its Hong Kong listing, terms of the deal showed.

At US$8 billion, it would be Hong Kong’s biggest share sale since Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s US$12.9 billion listing in 2019. Innolight’s offering may also catapult Hong Kong’s listing proceeds this year past the nearly US$37 billion raised in 2025, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. 

The debut is part of a wave of offerings by Chinese companies in the artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain that have fuelled this year’s deals boom in Hong Kong. Other sizeable deals in the pipeline include Innolight’s peer Eoptolink Technology Inc, which is preparing to raise as much as US$5 billion, people familiar with the matter have said.

Innolight’s shares in Shenzhen have surged over 500% in the last year on enthusiasm for companies involved in the buildout of AI. That’s lifted its market value to about US$187 billion and increased the deal size significantly.

However, a sell-off in chipmakers has gathered pace on worries that the AI spending spree is becoming harder to justify. Innolight’s shares have dropped about 18% since a June peak.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc, China International Capital Corp, Morgan Stanley and GF Securities Co are leading Innolight’s listing. Haitong International Securities Co, Citigroup Inc, HSBC Holdings plc and China Galaxy Securities Co are also working on it, according to a filing. 

Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee