The Semiconductor unit of veteran carmaker BYD is aiming for a domestic IPO.
On January 20, according to the information on the official website of Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau, BYD Semiconductor plans to make an initial public offering and list on domestic stock exchanges. It has accepted the IPO guidance of CICC, and recently completed the guidance and filing in Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau.
In April 2020, when BYD introduced strategic investors for the restructuring of its subsidiaries, it disclosed the plan to spin off BYD semiconductor for listing, hoping to enhance the company's overall profit and influence. In the next two months, BYD semiconductor successively completed two rounds of financing, worth CNY 2.7 billion. The investors include CICC capital, Himalaya Capital, Sequoia Capital, etc. CICC gave BYD semiconductor a post-investment valuation of around CNY 30 billion.
Other than that, as early as June 2020, it was reported that BYD and Huawei had signed a cooperation agreement to build Kirin chips for cars, and its first product was Kirin 710A.
It is reported that, before that, Kirin 710A was manufactured and mass-produced by SMIC international, using a 14nm process. If BYD can realize the production of the chip, Kirin 710A will be able to realize independent control from design, OEM to packaging and testing.
In other words, if BYD semiconductor can break through the manufacturing of Kirin a710, it will be added to the list of domestic foundries that can produce 14nm chips, such as SMIC.