Quectel Wireless Launches IPO On Shanghai Stock Exchange

Quectel Wireless Solutions, the Shanghai-headquartered supplier of cellular and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) modules, launched its initial public offering (IPO) on the main board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

In a statement, Quectel said it listed 22.3 million shares of common stock at 43.93 yuan per share, which means the company is targeting to raise nearly 1 billion yuan ($145 million) in the IPO.

Quectel was among the three companies whose IPO applications were approved by China’s securities regulator, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), last month.

The other two are Jiangsu Shemar Electric Co Ltd and Qingdao Guolin Environmental Technology. Under China’s current IPO system, new shares are subject to approval from the CSRC.

Quectel said it will use the proceeds of the IPO to expand the company’s 5G, high-speed LTE and low-power wide-area (LPWA) product portfolio. It also plans to build R&D and technical support centers.

The company has already built up a global sales and tech support network to offer customers close services backed by a Quectel team that interlinks the overseas and China capabilities.

The company said its core products have enabled Internet-of-Things connections for over 5,000 enterprise customers in more than 150 countries and regions.

Quectel products have been widely applied in IoT/machine-to-machine fields including smart payment, telematics and transport, smart energy, smart city, security, wireless gateway, industry, healthcare, agriculture, and environment monitoring.

Patrick Qian, the company’s chairman and CEO, describes IoT as a promising technology that will have a tremendous impact on the development of society and technology.

The company estimates that globally more than 100 million devices have at least one Quectel module inside or have been “accelerated by Quectel”, it said on its website.

“Going public indicates a new start for Quectel and will bring great opportunities, which allow us to improve our core competitiveness and accelerate global expansion,” Qian said.

Quectel’s IPO is likely a response to the Chinese government’s call for tech companies to list domestically as a number of Chinese companies have trooped to the US seeking to raise funds via IPO.

Most recently, CloudMinds, a Chinese intelligent cloud robot developer backed by SoftBank Vision Fund, has filed to raise up to $500 million in an IPO in the US, joining a throng of China-based firms seeking to list away from home.