(Yicai Global) Feb. 25 -- Shares of Broadex Technologies, a developer of high-end integrated optoelectronic devices, climbed to an all-time high today after it announced the formation of a joint venture with German photoelectric technology startup Sicoya.

Broadex [SHE:300548] closed 7 percent higher at CNY130.43 (USD18.56) after gaining as much as 9.9 percent to CNY134 earlier in trading.

Sicoya will get convertible debt financing worth USD1.5 million from a US unit of Broadex and set up a joint venture together to design semiconductor chips as well as develop and make optoelectronic devices in China, Zhejiang province-based Broadex said in a statement yesterday. The debt can be converted into equity when Sicoya seeks future equity financing.

Berlin-based Sicoya will invest USD6 million in cash and intellectual property valued at USD1.65 million for a 51 percent stake in the JV, while Broadex will invest USD4.35 million in cash for 29 percent. Shaanxi Yuanjie Semiconductor Technology will inject USD500,000 in cash and IP worth USD1 million for 10 percent. Other unidentified investors will contribute USD1.5 million in cash for the rest.

The parties had penned an agreement of intent on Feb. 24 to establish the JV, sign a formal agreement within the next three months and start operating the business. But yesterday's statement did not mention the JV's specific business plan.

The JV will help strengthen strategic cooperation between Broadex, Sicoya and Yuanjie, improve Broadex's business capabilities in the field of silicon photonics technology, and lay the foundation for developing new products, the statement said.

Silicon photonics technology uses standard silicon to send and receive optical information between computers and other electronic devices. The biggest advantage of this technology is that the transmission rate is quite high, speeding up data transmission between processor cores by 100 times or more.

Broadex's products are used in optical fiber communication networks. Yuanjie independently develops, produces and sells semiconductor laser chips.

Editor: Peter Thomas