On 12 July 2022, Beijing Tongmei Xtal Technology Co., Ltd. (“Beijing Tongmei”) received approval from the 59th meeting of the Listing Committee of the Science and Technology Innovation Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) for its proposed IPO and listing on the STAR Market. This is the second case where a U.S. listed semiconductor company had its subsidiary's A-share IPO application approved. It is also another landmark project undertaken by King & Wood Mallesons (“KWM”) following its representation in the A-share IPO of ACM Research (Shanghai) Inc. (“ACM Shanghai”).
Founded in 1998, Beijing Tongmei is a world-renowned technology company focusing on semiconductor materials. It is mainly engaged in R&D, production and sales of indium phosphide substrate, gallium arsenide substrate, germanium substrate, PBN materials and other high purity materials. The Company's products are widely applied in 5G communications, data centers, new generation displays, AI, unmanned driving, wearable devices, aerospace and other fields. AXT, INC. (“AXT”, NASDAQ: AXTI), a NASDAQ-listed company, is the controlling shareholder of Beijing Tongmei. This project is made possible through a spin-off of AXT’s major assets and all business. Upon the IPO, Beijing Tongmei and AXT will be listed on the SSE STAR Market and NASDAQ respectively.
As the issuer's counsel, KWM provided legal services to Beijing Tongmei in the entire process, including domestic and overseas asset restructuring, multiple rounds of pre-IPO financing, employee equity incentives, and IPO on the STAR Market. KWM was fully involved in the design and implementation of this project, providing Beijing Tongmei with comprehensive, systematic, professional and efficient legal services.
The KWM team has rich experience in the semiconductor industry and A-share IPOs of Chinese subsidiaries of the US public companies. As the issuer’s counsel, the KWM team has assisted the NASDAQ listed company ACMR in its spin-off of ACM Shanghai (688082.SH), a leader in semiconductor cleaning equipment industry, for listing on the SSE STAR Market; and assisted the NYSE listed company JKS in its spin-off of Jingko Solar(688223.SH), a leading enterprise in photovoltaic industry, for listing on the SSE STAR Market.
This project was led by partners Xu Hui, Yang Zhenhua and senior associate Wang Anrong, with support from Chen Zeyu, Huang Tiancheng and Janice Wen.
