Global Crystal issued GDS to raise US$1.432 billion to purchase raw materials and expand overseas production.

Xu Xiulan, Chairman of Global Crystal (file photo)

[Reporter Lin Yiru/Report from Taipei] Silicon wafer major Global Crystal (6488) announced today (23rd) that it has completed the pricing of the issuance of overseas depositary receipts (Global Depositary Shares, GDS) on September 22, raising a total of US$1.432 billion (approximately NT$45.4 billion), which will be used to meet the funds required for the purchase of raw materials and the expansion needs of overseas subsidiaries.

Global Crystal will issue a total of 50 million units of GDS this time. Each unit of GDS will reward one ordinary share. It is expected to be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and traded on its Euro MTF market. The issuance price of each GDS unit is US$28.64 (approximately NT$908.32 per share), which is a discount of approximately 6.46% from Global Crystal’s closing price of NT$971 yesterday (22). Global Crystal's stock price strengthened yesterday, rising 4.3% in a single day, reaching its highest level in the past two weeks.

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This time, Global Crystal has once again entered the international capital market after completing the issuance of US$689 million GDS in March 2024. It is also the third largest overseas depositary receipt issuance case in Taiwan's history. The final subscription amount reached approximately 4 times the issuance size.

Xu Xiulan, Chairman and CEO of Global Crystal, said that as new production capacity in the United States, Europe and Asia is gradually put into production and gradually ramped up, and coincides with the gradual recovery of semiconductor market demand, Global Crystal will continue to seize long-term growth opportunities driven by key applications such as artificial intelligence and high-performance computing, and strengthen global supply capabilities and competitive advantages. She sincerely thanks the global international capital market and investors for their trust and support in Global Crystal. In the future, Global Crystal will continue to improve its overall operating performance and create long-term value for shareholders.

The global production expansion layout promoted by Global Crystal in recent years has gradually entered the harvest stage. The new Texas plant in the United States has passed the certification of several Tier-1 customers, and its output continues to expand. Recently, important customers have further enhanced the demand visibility of the new Texas plant through long-term cooperation agreements and strategic financial support. The newly expanded 12-inch SOI wafer output of the Missouri plant in the United States has also significantly increased. After setting a new high in single-quarter revenue in the second quarter of this year, the Niigata plant in Japan is expected to reach a new high in the third quarter. The existing 12-inch production capacity is fully loaded, the 8-inch utilization rate remains high, customer demand is clear and visibility continues to improve.

Looking forward to the future, Global Crystal said that the recovery trend of the semiconductor industry has expanded from the fields of AI and high-performance computing to more terminal application markets. The simultaneous expansion of AI logic chip and memory production capacity has continued to drive the growth of demand for advanced processes and niche products required for special applications; the industrial, automotive, communications and consumer electronics markets are also gradually recovering.

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