台灣股市成矽谷業者吸金新據點
由於美國風險投資業與公開市場資金吃緊，矽谷高科技公司的老闆們現在已將台灣股票市場視為具吸金潛力的新根據地？台灣兩大股市(上市/上櫃)日前於美國矽谷舉辦研討會，吸引當地超過200位人士參與；會中並邀請了首家在台灣股市興櫃掛牌的外商軟體公司安瑞科技(Array Networks)分享經驗。
總管台灣上櫃股票市場的證券櫃檯買賣中心(GreTai Securities Market)董事長呂東英表示，目前至少有10家電子業者正在與股票承銷商合作，尋求在台灣股市上櫃的可能性。而自台灣股市一年前對外資業者開放以來，總計已有17家海外公司準備在台灣發行股票。
目前股票在台灣公開上市的446家企業中，有370家是屬於高科技公司，其中有近四分之一是從事與半導體相關業務。呂東英也強調，在台灣公開上市的成本不但低於美國那斯達克(Nasdaq)股市，本益比(price/earnings ratios)也不遜於南韓、香港或新加坡等地股市。
Array執行長Michael Zhao則透過視訊受訪表示，該公司股票在台興櫃不只有助於其拓展大中華地區客戶，該公司與台灣當地科技產業的連結也更為密切；目前Array的投資者就包括台灣的官方研發機構工研院(ITRI)。Array股票已在興櫃市場銷售三個月左右，Zhao對該公司股價表現頗具信心。
台灣股市承銷商與主管機關在該場研討會上表示，台灣股市狀況在全球性的不景氣中表現相對穩定，且看來是企業募資的不錯管道，尤其適合年營收在2,000萬美元~1億美元左右的中小企業。而這類中小企業在那斯達克股市較難有所表現。
不過Array也建議，要在台灣上市的公司最好要在當地建立海外企業總部，才能簡化相關程序並避開美國昂貴的資本得利稅(capital gains taxes)。Zhao表示，在台灣發行股票的優勢之一，就是能做為進軍中國大陸市場的跳板；目前中國股市尚未對外商開放。此外台灣的投資人熟悉電子產業，也不排斥小型企業股票等特性也是其優點。
在該場研討會上也有風險投資業人士參與，他們表示主要是希望多了解台灣股市的現況與賦稅政策，以評估投資機會。但事實上，美國VC業近來手頭很緊，讓當地新創公司被收購或上市機會都遭遇史上罕見的冷清狀況。
協助主辦該場研討會的全球半導體聯盟(Global Semiconductor Alliance，GSA)執行總監Jodi Shelton表示，台灣股市是美國科技業者們「值得研究的選項」，因為目前半導體產業風險投資衰退狀況著實令人憂心。目前該聯盟正與許多投資機構共同探討此一狀況，並試圖往歐洲、亞洲等地尋找新的資金來源。
Silicon Valley eyes Taiwan stock markets
Exchanges seen as capital source amid tight markets
Rick Merritt
EE Times
(07/22/2009 5:02 H EDT)
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Silicon Valley executives are taking a close look at Taiwan's stock markets as a place for raising capital to fuel their growth given the tight U.S. venture capital and public markets.
More than 200 people attended a seminar here Tuesday (July 21) hosted by Taiwan's two exchanges. The program included a talk from Array Networks, a Silicon Valley software company that in May became the first foreign firm to list in Taiwan as well as representatives of Taiwan's Executive Yuan and its stock exchanges.
As many as ten electronics companies are working with underwriters on a possible listing in Taiwan, according to Daung-Yen Lu, chairman of GreTai Securities Market, Taiwan's over-the-counter stock market. A total of 17 foreign companies are preparing to list in Taiwan which opened its markets to foreign based companies a year ago.
As many as 370 of the 446 companies listed on Taiwan's main exchange are considered high tech firms, about a quarter of them involved in semiconductors. Listing in Taiwan is significantly less expensive than on the Nasdaq and price/earnings ratios can be as high as those in exchanges in Korea, Hong Kong or Singapore, Lu said.
In a video interview, Michael Zhao, chief executive of Array (Milpitas, Calif.), said GreTai was the best alternative for his company given its expanding customer base in China and its ties to the island nation. Array's investors include the Industrial Technology Research Institute, an R&D arm of the Taiwan government, and HQ Asia Pacific.
Array is in the midst of a six-month initiation process on the Taiwan exchange. Zhao said he hopes the listing can raise as much as $25 to bolster the company's R&D efforts.
Underwriters and executives at the Tuesday event said the Taiwan exchanges have been relatively stable in the current recession and appear to be good avenues for raising capital. The opportunity is particularly suited for small to medium companies with annual revenues ranging from $20-$100 million that would have difficulty making a strong showing on markets such as Nasdaq.
Representatives from Array cautioned that a company ideally should have an off-shore home to ease the process and avoid high U.S. capital gains taxes. In addition, prospects should be able to support the minimum NT$10 share price Taiwan requires.
The upside of the market, said Zhao of Array, is that it is a good springboard to business in China—which is not yet open to foreign listers. It also has a pool of investors familiar with the electronics business and willing to trade in smaller companies.
Venture capitalists attending the Tuesday seminar said they want to see more details about the Taiwan exchanges and tax policies to evaluate the opportunity. However it's clear money is tight in the U.S. VCs here face an historic decline in opportunities for their startups to be sold or go public.
Taiwan's stock markets are "an option people need to look at," said Jodi Shelton, president of the Global Semiconductor Alliance that helped organize the Tuesday seminar. She called the decline in semiconductor venture financing "disturbing."
"There clearly seems to be a shift--maybe it's a permanent shift and a change in the industry," said Shelton. "We think there will just end up being a different type of innovation cycle," she added
The GSA has been working the issue on several fronts, getting its members in front of Wall Street investment firms and reaching out to new sources of financing in Europe and Asia, including the growing Taiwan market.