BlackRock and Janus Henderson agreed to subscribe for nearly $510m of the offered shares in the company
Alphawave IP eyes IPO launch on the London Stock Exchange. (Credit: Kaihsu Tai/Wikipedia.org)
Alphawave IP, a Canadian semiconductor IP company, said that it plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) to raise nearly $500m.
The company’s president and CEO Tony Pialis said that the UK has been chosen for its IPO due to its “incredible technology and semiconductor industry ecosystem”. Furthermore, Pialis said that the company’s solid research base in the UK and its new research and development headquarters in Cambridge, gives an excellent base for the next stage of its global growth.
Alphawave IP executive chairman John Holt said: “We are a global business and proud to be taking Alphawave IP public here in the United Kingdom where the Silicon IP business model was invented by great British companies like Arm and Imagination and where there is a deeply experienced semiconductor community.
“There is a long track record in the UK of investors who understand the value of licencing semiconductor IP.”
Additionally, Alphawave IP has forged cornerstone agreements with funds and accounts managed by BlackRock and Janus Henderson for subscribing to around $510m of the offered shares. The offered price represents an equity value of up to $4.5bn, said the Toronto-based chip developer.
BlackRock has committed to subscribe for $390m worth shares, while Janus Henderson will buy $120m worth shares.
Alphawave IP said that its wired connectivity technology is integrated into semiconductors built for powering global network and computer systems capable of processing zettabytes of data.
The company targets Tier-1 customers in the data centre, 5G wireless infrastructure, artificial intelligence, data networking, solid-state storage, and autonomous vehicles.
Founded in 2017, the firm is engaged in designing and developing digital signal processing (DSP)-based, multi-standard wired connectivity silicon IP solutions.
Pialis said: “Alphawave IP’s technology enables data to travel faster, more reliably, using lower power. Our designs are licensed by makers of silicon chips to enable their chips to communicate with each other.
“Put simply, our connectivity solutions enable chips to handle the massive amounts of data transmission that happen across all our connected infrastructure, from data centres and computers to wireless infrastructure and autonomous vehicles.”
Alphawave IP revealed that its management is of the opinion that as a Canadian and British company, it is the only non-US firm licensing the technology and catering to customers across the world where high-speed wired connectivity is required.
In 2020, the Canadian semiconductor IP company earned revenue of $32.8m.
The company plans to have at least 25% of its issued share capital as free float, immediately after its admission on the London Stock Exchange.
Additionally, the company expects that up to a further 15% of the IPO of its shares will be made available based on an over-allotment option.
Last month, Alphawave IP entered into a partnership with EnSilica, a provider of custom ASIC design and supply services, for expanding their capabilities in the UK and Europe.