Chip maker Imagination Technologies plots stock market comeback four years after it was taken private
Imagination Technologies is plotting a return to the stock market four years after it was taken private.
The chip maker’s Chinese private equity owner Canyon Bridge is lining up banks to advise on a float in London or New York.
Canyon Bridge, which has links to the Chinese state, bought Imagination in 2017 for £550million.
Chip Maker Imagination Technologies’ Chinese private equity owner Canyon Bridge is lining up banks to advise on a float in London or New York
The takeover followed a turbulent few months after Apple, Imagination’s largest customer, said it would stop using its intellectual property on its systems.
This triggered a share price crash. In 2020, Apple became a customer again, signing a multi-year licence agreement.
Although Imagination was previously a £1billion company listed on the London Stock Exchange, it is thought to be considering New York, as it could get a higher valuation on the Nasdaq index.
A float would allow Canyon Bridge to sell down its stake and put to rest any concerns about a Chinese company owning a British semiconductor firm.
The LSE is desperately trying to attract fast-growing companies and listing rules are being reviewed to lure tech groups to the bourse.
On Tuesday Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries intervened in the proposed £31billion takeover of Arm, another UK chip group, which has been targeted by the US company Nvidia.