(Oct 19): JPMorgan Chase & Co’s asset management arm and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd are set to be among cornerstone investors in printed circuit board maker Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing Co’s upcoming Hong Kong listing, according to people familiar with the matter.
CPE, formerly known as Citic PE, and Montage Technology Co are also planning to participate as cornerstone investors, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.
Dongshan Precision is planning to start taking orders as soon as Tuesday for its share sale that could raise as much as US$1.8 billion (RM7.35 billion), including a greenshoe option, the people said. The cornerstone investors are expected to take up about half of the deal, they said.
Deliberations are ongoing and details including cornerstone lineup, size and timing of the offering may change.
Representatives for Dongshan Precision and JPMorgan Asset Management declined to comment, while Alibaba, CPE and Montage didn’t immediately respond to requests seeking comment.
Dongshan Precision’s listing builds on a record summer for Hong Kong, which is en route to overtake 2021 in annual proceeds from share sales, in large part thanks to jumbo offerings by companies along the artificial intelligence supply chain.
Other PCB makers which tapped the market this year include Victory Giant Technology Huizhou Co, which raised US$3 billion in one of Hong Kong’s biggest deals of the year, and Shenzhen Kinwong Electronic Co, which completed a US$650 million debut last month.
However, Dongshan Precision is braving the market as investors have become increasingly concerned about the levels of AI spending and how it’s being financed at a time of rising yields.
Earlier this month, US semiconductor shares suffered an eight-session rout — the longest since 2008 — that wiped roughly 16% off the sector’s benchmark, while the Nasdaq 100 experienced its worst week since April 2025.
That negative sentiment has started to have ripple effects on initial public offerings. Australian data center company Firmus Grid Ltd pulled its roughly US$5 billion IPO when investors balked at the valuation it sought, while AirTrunk, which also operates data centers, pushed back a planned real estate investment trust IPO in Singapore to next year.
Dongshan Precision, which already trades in Shenzhen, has lost more than half its value since a peak in June, giving it a market capitalisation of 224 billion yuan (RM136.7 billion). The Suzhou-based firm makes PCBs as well as optical transceivers, critical components for AI.
UBS Group AG, Guotai Haitong Securities Co, GF Securities Co and Citic Securities Co are joint sponsors for the Hong Kong listing, according to a preliminary prospectus.
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