Is Taiwan The Next Locale for VC-Backed IPOs?
For nearly the past decade, talk of VC-backed IPOs has included at least passing mention to alternative exchanges. London’s AIM, Hong Kong, Shanghai, India, etc. Basically: If the window is closed to smaller companies here, maybe it’s open elsewhere. The latest entrant is Taiwan, which recently changed its rules to allow listings by foreign companies. Its guinea pig will be a Campbell, Calif.-based chipmaker called Integrated Memory Logic (IML), which has raised around $8 million in VC funding from Storm Ventures, InveStar Capital and Telos Venture Partners. IML officially priced $40 million of shares last Friday ($39.6m in the bank, after fees) and will begin trading tomorrow. Fairly similar to a NYSE listing ceremony, except they bang a drum instead of a bell.
