The listing of China's largest DRAM maker Changxin Memory Technologies (CXMT) has revealed the makeup of its shareholders and strategic investors. With the state-owned assets of Hefei in Anhui province, where CXMT is headquartered, named the largest shareholder, it turned out that China's big tech companies such as Alibaba, Xiaomi, and NIO, along with state-owned banks, insurers, and semiconductor materials and equipment corporations, invested en masse.
On the 27th, CXMT listed on Shanghai's STAR Market, closing at 49 yuan, up 466% from the offer price of 8.66 yuan. As of 10:30 a.m. on the 30th local time, it was trading around 51 yuan, and its market capitalization swelled to about 343 billion yuan (about 733 trillion won). In 2020, CXMT surpassed China's largest foundry SMIC to set a new record for the largest initial public offering (IPO) in STAR Market history.
According to Chinese financial outlet Jiemian News, the biggest beneficiary of CXMT's listing is Hefei. CXMT's prospectus shows that, before the listing, the Hefei state-owned assets group held a total equity stake of 36.79%, making it the largest shareholder. It maintained a 33.1% stake after the listing, with the value of its holdings estimated at 1.17 trillion yuan (about 250 trillion won) based on the previous day's closing price of 52.95 yuan. With CXMT's listing, Hefei jumped in the city market capitalization rankings from 19th to 4th in one leap.
Semiconductor supply chain corporations also appeared in force on the roster of strategic investors disclosed with the listing. A total of 30 investors took part in the strategic allocation, which assigns shares ahead of retail investors in this IPO, and 18 of them were semiconductor supply chain companies. These companies span the full semiconductor production process—from materials, equipment, and packaging to testing and applications—showing that the entire supply chain joined as investors.
Major big tech and financial players were also identified as key investors. Alibaba first invested in CXMT in 2021 and joined the round just before the IPO, securing a total equity stake of 5%. Based on the previous day's close, Alibaba's equity holdings are estimated to be worth about 177 billion yuan (about 38 trillion won).
In addition, big tech firms such as Xiaomi, NIO, Chery (Chery), and Meituan were listed as investors. Among banks and insurers, investment arms of China's five major state-owned banks, along with several banks and insurers, hold CXMT equity. NIO Chair Li Bin told local media, "Cooperation with CXMT is proceeding smoothly, and this partnership will help stabilize NIO's supply chain."
Judging from the shareholder list disclosed through this IPO, CXMT appears to be more than a simple memory manufacturer, featuring a structure backed by local governments, semiconductor materials and equipment corporations, big tech, platform companies, and financial institutions. Jiemian News said, "CXMT's listing has become an opportunity to reveal the stakeholder landscape of China's memory industry beyond an ultra-large IPO," adding, "It has been confirmed that local governments, semiconductor supply chain companies, big tech, and financial institutions are connected into a single investment ecosystem."
It then projected, "As CXMT expands production capacity and advances its processes going forward, this industrial ecosystem will further grow, and more cities and corporations will be incorporated into China's semiconductor industry."