Transsion, Africa’s smartphone king, joins IPO rush on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style stock market
- The Shenzhen-based company aims to raise up to US$437 million on the Science and Technology Innovation Board
Transsion Holdings, the Chinese budget smartphone maker that leads sales in Africa, has received approval to go public on Shanghai’s new Nasdaq-style stock market, as the company’s low-cost handsets entice millions of new consumers in the developing world.
The Shenzhen-based company, which filed its initial public offering (IPO) application in March, aims to raise up to 3.01 billion yuan (US$437 million) on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, also known as the Star board, according to an announcement on the Shanghai Stock Exchange website on Tuesday.
As part of that process, the Star board’s listing committee asked Transsion to submit further information about the competitiveness of its core technologies, both at home and abroad, and its other technical advantages, the announcement said.
A Transsion spokeswoman said the company had no comment at present.
With its business entrenched outside China, Transsion had to meet regulators’ scrutiny about its sustainability and profitability. Transsion received about 62 official queries from the Shanghai Stock Exchange in May, which resulted in the company missing the cut for the first batch of firms to debut on the Star board on Tuesday.