Hsinchu, Taiwan. – Andes Technology Corporation, the leading Asia-based supplier of small, low-power, high performance 32-bit embedded CPU cores, today made an initial stock listing of 40,611,915 shares at a price of NT$65.10 per share. The shares began trading on the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation (TWSE)—the driving engine of Taiwan's economic growth—on March 14, 2017, under the TWSE ticker symbol “6533.TWO.” Proceeds from the offering will be used to expand the company's R&D effort to fuel Andes' international expansion into the U.S. and Europe and to increase its competitiveness in China, Korea, and Japan.
“In its short history, Andes Technology Corporation has reached a major milestone with its listing on the Taiwan Stock Exchange,” stated Andes Chairman, Ming-Kai Tsai. “Reaching this landmark is not an easy task, although we knew it required patience in IP product and business development from the beginning. I am glad to see Andes has now achieved initial success in the embedded processor IP industry.” Andes President, Frankwell Jyh-Ming Lin declared, “Andes has several sources of revenue, including, among others, license fees to acquire the rights to use our CPU IP and royalty income on the sale of all semiconductor devices containing our IP. While the number of licensees has grown steadily since our founding, the increase in royalties has been significant, growing 10 fold from 2013 to 2016 and increasing 60 percent in the last quarter of 2016. This reflects our customers' success with their products containing our IP.”
About the IPO Process on the TWSE
To become listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, a company such as Andes, must have a net worth, in both its most recent financial report and in its financial report for the most recent fiscal year, that is two-thirds or greater of the share capital stated on its financial report. At the time it applies for listing, a company's paid-in capital must be NT$300 million or more and it must have 20 million shares or more shares publicly offered and issued common stock. Another requirement is the company has 1,000 or more registered shareholders. Excluding company insiders and any judicial persons, who hold more than 50 percent of the shares, there must be at least 500 registered shareholders.
The company must have successfully developed a product or a technology with market potential, and it must have obtained an appraisal opinion from Industrial Development Bureau in Taiwan, R.O.C. It must also have at least six months of proven trading records. This is accomplished by listing its shares on the TPEx Emerging Stock Board (ESB), where Andes has been trading since 2015. The company must be recommended in writing by a reputable securities underwriter. For the Andes IPO Horizon Securities Corporation provided this service.
The company must appoint independent directors, not less than two in number and not less than one-fifth of the total number of directors. Finally, company financial reporting must comply with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs).
About Andes
Andes Technology Corporation was founded in Hsinchu Science Park, Taiwan in 2005 to develop innovative high-performance/low-power 32-bit processor cores and associated development environment to serve worldwide rapidly growing embedded system applications. The company delivers the best super low power CPU cores with integrated development environment and associated software and hardware solutions for efficient SoC design.
To meet the demanding requirements of today's electronic devices, Andes Technology delivers configurable software/hardware IP and scalable platforms to respond to customers' needs for quality products and faster time-to-market. Andes Technology's comprehensive CPU includes entry-level, mid-range, high-end, extensible and security families to address the full range of embedded electronics products, especially for connected, smart and green applications.
For more information about Andes Technology, please visit http://www.andestech.com/.