Suzhou Dongshan’s US$1.8b Hong Kong IPO trails expectations amid US trade risk concerns
Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing raised less than expected in its Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO), as investors weighed potential US trade restrictions on its optical modules business amid the city’s cautious appetite for mega listings, analysts said. The company has started taking investor orders for a Hong Kong listing, offering 113.7 million shares at a maximum price of HK$93.80 per share, according to its prospectus on Tuesday. A total of 20 cornerstone investors have agreed...
Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing raised less than expected in its Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO), as investors weighed potential US trade restrictions on its optical modules business amid the city’s cautious appetite for mega listings, analysts said.
The company has started taking investor orders for a Hong Kong listing, offering 113.7 million shares at a maximum price of HK$93.80 per share, according to its prospectus on Tuesday.
A total of 20 cornerstone investors have agreed to buy US$680 million worth of the shares. They include JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s asset management arm, Alibaba Group Holding, Jane Street Capital, Montage Technology, Yonglian Investment, LMR and Foresight Funds.
Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
The cornerstone tranche would account for up to 50 per cent of the total funds set to be raised, Dongshan Precision said.
With the overallotment option, the Chinese printed circuit board maker could raise about HK$12.3 billion (US$1.84 billion), compared with market expectations of US$2 billion to US$3 billion a week ago.
“Since H-share pricing must reference the A-share with a discount, the fall in the parent stock directly reduced the H-share fundraising size,” said Jasper Chan, manager at Phillip Securities (Hong Kong).
He said a cautious market appetite for mega IPOs had led to reduced cornerstone commitments as well.
The Hong Kong debut price reflects a discount of 35 per cent to the 122.15 yuan closing price of the firm’s Shenzhen-listed shares on Monday.
Dongshan Precision entered the optical module business in September 2025 by acquiring Source Photonics, a key driver of its gross profit surge in the first half this year.
However, the business was under threat because of market speculation about potential US restrictions.
Morgan Stanley issued a report on October 1 that said the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) might include 3.2-terabit-per-second (3.2T) high-speed optical modules on its restricted list as early as October, requiring 65 per cent of the bill-of-materials value to originate from US firms for import eligibility.
The FCC has not proposed or enacted formal rules restricting Chinese-made optical transceivers, according to Dongshan Precision’s prospectus.
The company said its optical transceiver revenue reached 19.2 per cent of total revenue in the first half of 2026. Besides its plants in Chengdu and Changzhou, subsidiary Source Photonics has manufacturing capacity outside mainland China, offering supply flexibility for overseas deliveries, the prospectus said.
Optical transceivers are critical components in AI data centres, converting electrical signals into optical signals to enable high-speed data transmission between servers and computing equipment.
The Suzhou-based firm has seen its Shenzhen shares drop 26 per cent this month to a near six-month low, bringing its market capitalisation to 223 billion yuan (US$33.34 billion).
Dongshan Precision expects to list its shares in Hong Kong on October 28. UBS, Guotai Haitong Securities, GF Securities and Citic Securities are joint sponsors for the Hong Kong listing, according to its prospectus.
Source: South China Morning Post ›
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