By Frances Huang From Focus Taiwan News Channel

Taipei, June 7 (CNA) Alchip Technologies Ltd., a Cayman Islands incorporated integrated circuit designer, has filed an application with the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) for a primary listing, the exchange said Saturday.

Alchip specializes at developing high-volume application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and system-on-a-chip (SoC) technologies, which are used in ultra-high resolution TVs, digital cameras, cell phones, computers, gaming consoles, medical equipment, and other applications, the TWSE said.

The exchange said it is the third application filed by overseas registered enterprises to list their shares on the main board so far this year.

Currently, a total of 36 foreign-incorporated companies are traded on the main board since the first primary listing was launched in May 2010.

According to a prospect filed by Alchip on the TWSE, the IC designer is planning to issue 7.68 million new shares for the listing, while it will preserve 15 percent of the new shares for its employees.

The chip designer said it has tentatively set the issue price at NT$67 (US$2.23) to raise a total of NT$514.6 million and will use the proceeds from the shares sale as working capital for future expansion.

The company said the fundraising activity is scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year. Horizon Securities, Capital Securities, KGI Securities, Yuanta Securities and CTBC Securities are the underwriters of the primary listing.

Alchip operates research and development bases and sales offices in Taiwan, Japan and Shanghai and has major clients in Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, the United States, and Europe, the TWSE said.

Japan was Alchip’s biggest source of clients last year, accounting for 48.50 percent of the company’s total sales in 2013.

The IC designer currently has NT$541 million in paid-in capital and NT$1.65 billion in book value, the TWSE said.

In 2013, Alchip posted NT$113.12 million in net profit or NT$2.10 in earnings per share, up from NT$21.86 million in net profit or NT$0.41 per share recorded in 2012, the prospectus showed.

In the first quarter of this year, the company registered NT$53.10 million in net profit or NT$0.98 in EPS, the prospectus indicated.

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