From Want China Times

GEM Services, an integrated circuit packaging and testing services provider incorporated in the Cayman Islands, is seeking a primary listing in Taiwan, the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) said Saturday.

The TWSE said GEM is the eighth foreign-registered company to file an application for a listing on the exchange.

While GEM is a Cayman Island-incorporated firm, its chair Cheng Chu-liang and president Tang Yen-chiang are Taiwanese nationals.

According to a prospectus GEM filed with the exchange, the company is planning to issue 12.548 million new shares in the listing and hopes to raise about NT$451.73 million (US$13.73 million) based on a tentatively set issue price of NT$36 (US$1.11).

GEM said it expects the fundraising activity will be completed by the end of the first quarter of next year, with the funds expected to be used to help finance future expansion and to repay debt to improve its financial structure.

According to the company, its debt to asset ratio as of the end of June stood at 29.52%, down from 34.61% at the end of 2014.

Yuanta Securities and E Sun Securities are serving as the underwriters of GEM’s listing.

GEM currently operates production lines in Kaohsiung in Taiwan and Shanghai and Hefei in China, and its customers include IC designers and integrated device manufactures from the United States, Japan and Taiwan. These clients use their chips in a wide range of devices such as motherboards, notebook computers, servers and power supply devices, GEM said.

The IC designer has devoted considerable resources to research and development to upgrade its technology and eventually boost profitability, it said, and its gross margin improved to 27.26% in 2014 from 21.02% in 2013.

Last year, GEM posted NT$5.15 (US$0.15) in earnings per share, up from NT$2.45 (US$0.07) in EPS a year earlier. In the first half of 2015, the IC designer’s EPS stood at NT$2.33 (US$0.07), but it did not provide a comparison with the same period of last year.

IMAGE: A trading center in Taipei, Sept. 21. (File photo/Lin Hou-chun)

For more on this story go to: http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news/content?id=20151011000057&cid=1202