HONG KONG, February 3, 2026, 21:10 (HKT)
- Sources say the offer will be priced at the top of its marketed range, raising up to HK$7.04 billion ($902 million)
- Final price is due Feb. 5, with trading scheduled for Feb. 9, the prospectus shows
- The deal has $450 million in cornerstone commitments, with proceeds aimed mainly at research and development
Montage is set to price its Hong Kong share sale at the top end of its marketed range, raising as much as HK$7.04 billion ($902 million), two people with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday. The offer price is expected to be set by Feb. 5 and announced on Feb. 6, with shares due to start trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Feb. 9, its prospectus shows. (Reuters)
The deal lands after a January rush that put Hong Kong back on the map for big listings, though some debuts have not delivered fireworks. IPOs and second listings raised about $5.5 billion in January, the most for that month since 2021, LSEG data showed. Kenny Ng, a securities strategist at China Everbright Securities International, said investors have been leaning toward new-economy and technology names; “In contrast, stocks from traditional economic sectors, such as Eastroc, often exhibit more stable trends following their listing,” he added. (Reuters)
Analysts say chip and memory suppliers are turning to Hong Kong for offshore capital and a second trading line outside the mainland. “It signals a strategic move in how the sector fuels its global ambitions,” said MS Hwang, research director at Counterpoint Research. Frost & Sullivan put Montage’s 2024 share of the memory interconnect chip market at 38.6%, and Bloomberg reported institutional orders were halted a day early amid strong interest. (South China Morning Post)
Montage is offering 65.9 million H shares — the Hong Kong-traded line — at up to HK$106.89 each, valuing it at about HK$180.36 billion; at the top end that is roughly a 48% discount to the Shanghai price at the time, using the deal’s exchange rates. Its Shanghai-listed shares were up 2.3% at 182.03 yuan on Tuesday and have gained 54% this year, giving the firm a market value of about $29.3 billion, LSEG data showed. The deal has 17 cornerstone investors — large buyers who agree to take shares before listing — committing $450 million, including JPMorgan Asset Management, UBS Asset Management and Yunfeng Capital. (MarketScreener UK)
The company plans to use most of the proceeds for research and development, commercialisation, strategic investments or acquisitions and working capital, the prospectus said. CICC, Morgan Stanley and UBS are acting as joint sponsors, the banks running the deal.
Founded in 2004, Montage designs integrated circuits that speed data movement in servers and data centres. The sector has drawn heavy investment as China tries to build domestic alternatives to high-end chips and manufacturing equipment after the United States tightened export restrictions.
In memory and storage, the road to Hong Kong is getting crowded. GigaDevice Semiconductor debuted there last month after listing in Shanghai, while Axera Semiconductor is among other chip names lined up for the coming days.
Montage has said the Hong Kong listing should help it strengthen its global leadership and seize opportunities in cloud computing and AI infrastructure, according to its prospectus. It is also a straightforward bet on investor appetite holding up through pricing and into the first week of trading.
But the pricing is not final and the window can slam shut. Big deals can open flat even with heavyweight cornerstone demand, and chip valuations remain sensitive to shifts in rates, demand and geopolitics.
