Ligent Seeks $723 Million as AI Demand Lifts Its Optical Business
The Hisense-controlled fibre-optics supplier priced its Hong Kong offer at a $4.13 billion valuation, with cornerstone investors taking nearly half the base deal.
China’s Ligent Technologies is seeking about HK$5.67 billion, or $723 million, in a Hong Kong initial public offering that converts demand for AI data-centre components into one of the market’s larger new listings.
The Hisense-controlled optical-equipment maker is offering 172 million shares at HK$32.96 each. That implies a market capitalisation of approximately HK$32.4 billion, or $4.13 billion. Underwriters can sell up to 25.8 million additional shares if the overallotment option is exercised, increasing both proceeds and the public float.
Cornerstone investors have committed $340 million, equivalent to about 47% of the base transaction. The group includes Primavera Investment Fund, GigaDevice, Amlogic Hong Kong, Mirae Asset Securities HK, PAG, an ORIX-backed vehicle, Barings, GF Fund and E Fund. Citigroup and CITIC Securities are joint sponsors.
The large cornerstone allocation gives the deal a substantial pool of demand before public trading begins, but it also reduces the amount initially available to other investors. Concentrated cornerstone books can stabilise an offering while lock-ups apply; they do not guarantee secondary-market performance once restrictions expire.
Ligent makes optical transceivers, optical chips and network terminals used in data centres, cloud computing and telecommunications. These components move data between servers and racks, making them an important but less visible layer of AI infrastructure. As accelerator clusters grow, network bandwidth and energy efficiency can become bottlenecks alongside compute.
The company’s first-half figures show how strongly that demand is flowing through its accounts. Revenue increased 27.9% to 5.39 billion yuan, while net profit rose 29.7% to 661 million yuan. Sales of data-centre transceivers, Ligent’s largest business, climbed 36.6% to 3.74 billion yuan.
Ligent plans to use the proceeds for research and development, production expansion and general corporate purposes. The broad allocation leaves unanswered how much capital will be committed to each project, the expected capacity increase and the return thresholds attached to new factories.
Hisense is expected to own 40.1% after the offer if the overallotment is not used, down from 48.6%. That preserves significant strategic control while introducing public-market scrutiny over capital allocation, customer concentration and related-party dealings.
Trading is scheduled to begin on September 22. The deal follows a strong year for Asian technology offerings, but investors have become more selective as concern grows over the returns on AI infrastructure and the durability of component pricing.
Why it matters
Ligent offers public investors a comparatively direct way to participate in the networking layer of AI buildouts. Its growth is supported by actual revenue and profit rather than only capacity plans, distinguishing it from many capital-intensive AI infrastructure stories.
The offering also tests Hong Kong’s ability to absorb sizeable technology deals after a run of listings with limited initial floats and heavy cornerstone participation. A healthy aftermarket would encourage other suppliers to accelerate offerings; weak trading could push issuers to lower valuations or delay.
Customers and suppliers should watch whether IPO-funded expansion eases shortages or instead contributes to overcapacity. Optical markets can move quickly from scarcity to price competition when many manufacturers add production simultaneously.
The disclosed results cover only six months, and demand is closely tied to data-centre investment. Ligent’s valuation therefore depends on growth persisting well beyond the current AI spending cycle. The prospectus, rather than the headline fundraising number, remains the critical source for risks, margins, customer dependence and use of proceeds.