The Shanghai Stock Exchange has just approved the IPO pricing of one of the very first companies that will be listed under its NASDAQ-style technology innovation board. Shanghai's new Star Market is expected to include the country's top tech startups.
The company that is likely the first to be listed on the board is display and touch equipment manufacturer Suzhou HYC Technology.
Suzhou HYC Technology announced this week that it has already begun price consultations with different institutions in preparation for its initial public offering (IPO).
The company expects to raise at least $144.9 million during its public debut. After its price consultation, the company expects to start subscriptions for its shares as early as June 27.
Market analysts have predicted a possible buying frenzy amongst investors once the Star Market officially goes live. China launched the new innovation board last week.
The initiative was initially planned by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who saw the new listing as a way to boost technological innovation within the country.
Xi originally announced plans for the NASDAQ-style board back in November of last year.
The Chinese president ordered the country's securities regulator to immediately begin preparations for its implementation. The board itself is expected to be open for trading sometime within the next two months.
The launch of the new board comes at an opportune time for China as it continued to battle with the United States over trade policies. The ongoing trade dispute between both nations has already spilled into the technology sector, which was started by the US' inclusion of Huawei in its trade blacklist.
The fundraising platform is expected to support domestic tech startups, with the hopes that some would eventually become tech behemoths in their own right.
According to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, around 11 tech startups have already passed its IPO review process. Brokers predict that there could be as many as 20 companies that will be listed on the new board once it goes live.
The exchange also revealed that there are still about 14 companies that have expressed interest in going through its IPO review process.
Fund managers predict that most of these companies will likely be heavily oversubscribed during their first days on the exchange. This will be due to the massive interest from investors to back the tech companies they think could be the next Google or Microsoft.
To combat wide-spread speculative trading, the exchange announced last week that it would be implementing limiting rules that would mitigate the overselling and overbuying of stocks.
