(Yicai) July 23 -- Zhongji Innolight, the world’s largest supplier of optical interconnect solutions, aims to raise as much as HKD62.4 billion (USD8 billion) in a secondary listing that is expected to become Hong Kong’s biggest stock market floatation since 2019.

Innolight plans to offer 54.5 million shares at up to HKD1,010 (USD128.80) apiece, a discount of nearly 18 percent on its closing price of CNY1,060.80 (USD156.70) in Shenzhen yesterday, raising a total of HKD55 billion, the Longkou-based firm announced yesterday. If the over-allotment option is fully exercised, the raise could reach HKD62.4 billion.

Thirty-five percent of the HKD55 billion will go to research and develop optical interconnect solutions, 30 percent to grow Innolight’s global capacity to produce high-speed optical transceivers, 15 percent to supply chain acquisitions and investments, 10 percent to enhance supply chain resilience, and the rest to supplementing working capital, the prospectus showed.

The listing boasts one of the most star-studded and diverse cornerstone investor lineups Hong Kong has seen in years.

It includes sovereign wealth funds such as Singapore’s Temasek and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Canada’s public pension fund CPP Investments, global asset managers BlackRock, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, and Wellington Management, as well as leading private equity firms with much experience in the Chinese market, namely Hillhouse Capital Advisors, Boyu Capital, CPE Group, and IDG Capital.

Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings are also cornerstone investors, underscoring the strategic importance the Chinese internet giants attach to the core optical interconnect solutions supply chain. The deal has also attracted prominent Hong Kong-based financial investors, including Aspex, Yunfeng Fund, and Chow Tai Fook Enterprises.

Together, the cornerstone investors have subscribed for nearly 26.8 million shares, equivalent to about 49 percent of the base offering.

Innolight has been the world’s biggest optical interconnect solutions provider by revenue since 2021, with a 21 percent global market share and a 28 percent share of the high-speed datacom optical transceiver segment last year.

The company’s flagship optical transceivers are deployed in artificial intelligence computing clusters and cloud data centers to enable high-speed data transmission between servers and switches.

Between 2023 and last year, InnoLight’s revenue grew at a compound annual rate of nearly 90 percent, while net profit increased at a compound annual rate of 123 percent. For the first quarter of this year, the company reported operating revenue of CNY19.5 billion (USD2.9 billion) and net profit of CNY5.7 billion (USD847.1 million), with both figures nearing half of its 2024 full-year earnings.

InnoLight’s position in the global optical module industry is comparable to Contemporary Amperex Technology’s position in the power-battery sector, an investment banker told Yicai. The steep discount applied to the Hong Kong listing relative to its Shenzhen stock price not only leaves room for post-listing share appreciation but also reflects InnoLight’s desire to attract long-term international investors and ensure a successful offering, the banker added.

Innolight [SHE: 300308] closed 1.1 percent up at CNY1,072.50 per share in Shenzhen today. Driven by robust product demand and rapid earnings growth, the stock hit an all-time high of CNY1,416.88 on June 22. The shares has gained 76 percent in value since the end of 2025 and almost nine-fold in the past 12 months.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione