Chip design firm Socionext jumped 15% in its Tokyo debut after completing Japan’s largest initial public offering this year, defying recent investor pessimism about global semiconductor shares.
Shares of the Yokohama-based company, which had Panasonic Holdings, Fujitsu and the Development Bank of Japan as holders prior to the listing, ended the first session at ¥4,200. They were sold at ¥3,650 each, the top of the marketed range in an IPO that was upsized to ¥66.8 billion ($456 million) due to high investor interest.
Semiconductor listings in Tokyo tend to perform well in their first session, Bloomberg data show. Socionext managed to attract buyers even in a weak market for IPOs in Japan, where proceeds slumped 80% this year on an annual comparison. The jump contrasts to a chip-related stocks rout that’s wiped out more than $240 billion from the sector’s global market value this week after the United States imposed curbs on China’s access to technology.
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