BRIEF: Biren Technology gets CSRC nod for Hong Kong IPO

AI chipmaker Shanghai Biren Intelligent Technology Co. has been approved by China’s securities regulator to list in Hong Kong, according to the approval notice published by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) on Monday. The step clears a major regulatory hurdle for the IPO to proceed.

Biren Technology intends to issue up to 372 million ordinary shares in the listing, according to the CSRC notice. In addition, 57 of the company’s existing shareholders plan to convert a combined 873 million domestic, unlisted shares into overseas-listed shares to be traded in Hong Kong.

Founded in 2019, Biren is one of China’s leading providers of general-purpose intelligent computing solutions, anchored by its Biren GPU series. The company had filed nearly 1,200 patent applications worldwide and was granted more than 430 patents by the end of June, ranking it first among China’s general-purpose GPU developers.

In August, the Financial Times cited sources saying that Biren had recently submitted a confidential listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In May, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange launched its Technology Enterprises Channel to streamline listings by specialist technology and biotech companies, including allowing such confidential filings.

According to a Reuters report in June, Biren recently completed a 1.5 billion yuan fundraising, with a pre-financing valuation of about 14 billion yuan ($2 billion).

By Lee Shih Ta

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