Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chipmaker Airoha Technology is looking to trade its shares on Taiwan's Emerging Stock Board (ESB), paving the way for its plans for an initial public offering (IPO) on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), market sources believe.
MediaTek, Airoha's parent company, has declined to comment on the matter.
MediaTek issued a company filing with the TWSE recently disclosing its accumulated cuts in its stakes in Airoha since April 2021. The latest transaction that took place on March 16, 2022 had MediaTek cut another 10% of its Airoha holdings for NT$650 per share, or a total of NT$9.46 billion, in order to "facilitate Airoha's IPO in Taiwan," according to the filing.
Airoha became a member of MediaTek Group in 2017, and has been growing its business scale. Airoha in 2021 merged with EcoNet, another MediaTek company specializing in xDSL and xPON solutions. In late 2020, Airoha took up an about 20% stake in Asix Electronics, which specializes in Ethernet controller chips, through a private placement.
Airoha is well known for its single-chip solutions used in true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds and headsets, and has reportedly cut into the supply chain of major brands including Sony, Beats and JBL. Airoha with its TWS device solutions is also engaged in the supply chain of handset brands such as Honor and Xiaomi, according to industry sources.
Article translated by Jessie Shen
