(Yicai Global) June 2 -- ACM Research Shanghai, a leading developer of cleaning technologies and products for China’ semiconductor sector, will list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Nasdaq-like Star Market to raise CNY1.8 billion (USD253 million), the SSE announced yesterday.

ACM will issue up to 43.4 million shares in the initial public offering, which is at least 10 percent of the company’s overall share capital. CNY700 million (USD98.3 million) of the proceeds will go to build hubs for research and development and manufacturing, while CNY450 million will be for high-end device R&D. The remaining CNY650 million will recharge the firm’s working capital, per the company’s prospectus published on the bourse’s website.

ACM Research, its parent, was founded by Chinese American David H. Wang in Silicon Valley in 1998 and went public in 2017. It now holds about 91.7 percent of the Shanghai unit, whose remaining equity is owned by several local institutions, including Shanghai Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund.

The parent ACM Research’s shares [NASDAQ:ACMR] soared by 6.87 percent to close at USD63.90 yesterday on the news, giving it a USD1.1 billion market cap.

ACMR joined hands with Shanghai Venture Capital to set up the joint venture ACM Research Shanghai in 2005, which then became the major operating entity of the parent’s core business. The cleaning of semiconductors, the Shanghai unit’s main business, is a key link in chip making. ACM Research (Shanghai)’s major clients include China’s Yangtze Memory Technologies and Semiconductor Manufacturing International, as well as South Korea’s Hynix.

The Shanghai unit’s business revenue was CNY757 million (USD106.3 million) last year in an annual 37.6 percent rise. Income from its washing devices was the main revenue source at 84.1 percent. Its net profit surged 45.9 percent from 2018 to CNY135 million, per its prospectus.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Ben Armour