(Yicai) Aug. 22 -- Twenty-five institutional investors will buy 2.5 percent of VeriSilicon Microelectronics Shanghai, the one-stop provider of chip customization services said, in a deal expected to be worth about CNY688.8 million (USD95.1 million).

The investors, which include fund managers, qualified foreign institutional investors, private equity managers, brokers, and futures firms, will buy 12.5 million shares of VeriSilicon Microelectronics from shareholders for CNY55.10 (USD7.60) apiece, the Shanghai-based firm said late yesterday.

Shares of VeriSilicon Microelectronics [SHA: 688521] closed 2.9 percent higher at CNY60.30 in Shanghai today, after tumbling 7.8 percent yesterday.

VeriSilicon Microelectronics announced on Aug. 18 that 10 shareholders, including VeriSilicon, VeriVision, and Xiaomi’s investment fund Hubei Xiaomi Yangtze River Industrial Fund, intended to sell 12.5 million shares or about 2.5 percent of the total. The sale will be a non-public transfer and the shares will be subject to a six-month lockup period, it said.

The firm’s net profit jumped 50 percent to CNY22.2 million (USD3.1 million) in the first half from a year earlier, while revenue fell 2.4 percent to CNY1.2 billion (USD166.7 million), according to its most recent financial report.

In a separate statement on Aug. 18, VeriSilicon Microelectronics said its research and development center in Lingang Special Area, a special economic space in Shanghai’s free trade zone, had been officially opened.

The center, which will focus on developing chips and refining autonomous driving and internet of things software platforms, is expended to expand its headcount to 500 in the next five years, with over 90 percent of staff involved in R&D.

Editor: Futura Costaglione