Semiconductor is expected to raise RMB 2 billion ($314 million) through the IPO.

(Image credit: BYD Semiconductor)

BYD Semiconductor, BYD's chip business arm, has received approval for an initial public offering (IPO) on the A-share market, set to become another listed company under the umbrella of China's largest new energy vehicle (NEV) maker.

BYD Semiconductor's application to list on ChiNext, a NASDAQ-style subsidiary of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, has been approved by the exchange's review committee meeting, according to an announcement published today on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's website.

The company is expected to raise RMB 2 billion ($314 million) through the IPO, according to the announcement. The date for the stock to be listed for trading has not yet been set.

BYD Semiconductor was established in October 2004, and BYD directly holds 72.30 percent of the shares, making it the controlling shareholder of the company. BYD founder Wang Chuanfu indirectly controls BYD Semiconductor through BYD.

BYD announced on June 30 last year that the application to spin off its subsidiary BYD Semiconductor to ChiNext for listing was received by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

BYD Semiconductor will continue to engage in the R&D, production and sales of power semiconductors, intelligent control ICs, intelligent sensors and optoelectronic semiconductors, the company said at the time.

It will focus on automotive semiconductors in the future and promote the development of semiconductor business in the fields of industry, home appliances, new energy and consumer electronics, and is committed to becoming a new type of efficient, intelligent and integrated semiconductor supplier, the company said.

On August 18 last year, Beijing Tianyuan Law Firm, which served BYD Semiconductor's IPO process, was investigated by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, leading to the suspension of the process.

BYD Semiconductor subsequently said it would move forward with the review as soon as possible, and was unsure at the time whether it would change law firms.

In early September last year, Tianyuan issued a review report, and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange resumed the review of BYD Semiconductor's IPO.

BYD Semiconductor entered the industrial MCU field in 2007 and ranked first in China in terms of market share of industrial-grade touch MCUs.

It then extended its business from industrial-grade MCU across to automotive MCU and launched the first generation of 8-bit automotive MCU in 2018 and the first generation of 32-bit automotive MCU in 2019, which are used in BYD's full range of models.

In May last year, BYD Semiconductor announced that its installed base of automotive MCUs exceeded 10 million units. If the industrial-grade MCU chips were counted, the cumulative shipment exceeds 2 billion units.