O2Micro International is keeping quiet on its capital raising plans before its March 2 listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
The listing by way of introduction will generate no money for the chip designer, which already trades on the Nasdaq. Chief executive Sterling Du claimed the exercise was to demonstrate the company's commitment to customers and employees based in the region.
'Today, more than two-thirds of R&D is in the Greater China area. Listing in Hong Kong shows our long-term commitment to this area,' Mr Du said.
Another apparent benefit, according to chief financial officer Perry Kuo, was the public relations boost.
In addition, Asia-based employees who want to sell their O2Micro shares would not have to wait up for markets in the US to open. 'They can trade O2Micro shares in the same time zone,' Mr Kuo said.
These explanations, however, would hardly seem to justify the cost of bringing O2Micro to market. It was understood the company originally intended to raise $800 million through a secondary offering, but those plans appear to have been put on hold given the lack of excitement over semiconductor shares in Hong Kong.