ASR Microelectronics, an Alibaba-backed microchip developer, had a disappointing debut on the Shanghai STAR market, losing a third of its value by the end of its first day of trading, reports Caixin. Shares of the Chinese firm, the first chipmaker to list on a mainland exchange this year, were down 33.75%.
Despite the drop, the company’s market value still totaled RMB 45.6 billion, more than quadruple the valuation of RMB 10.42 billion ($1.64 billion) given by its last funding round in mid-2020. Shares of ASR opened 21% below the offering price of RMB 164.54 ($25.88) and closed at RMB 109.
The Shanghai-based chipmaker raised about RMB 6.88 billion by issuing 41.83 million shares through the initial public offering (IPO), which is much higher than the originally-planned RMB 2.38 billion. According to its prospectus, the takings will be spent on designing new chips and a precision navigation platform, and building research centers, among other things.