Chip toolmaker GK Precision jumps 400% after IPO, minting $1.4B founder
What's the deal? Jiangsu Gao Kai Precision Fluid Technology, known as GK PrecisionDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, has seen its shares surge nearly 400% since debuting in Shanghai last week, turning founder Liu Jianfang into a billionaire. The semiconductor equipment maker raised 1.5 billion yuan ($224 million) in its late-August IPO, selling 25 million shares at 61.4 yuan each.
Who is the founder? Liu, 51, is a former university professor who founded the company in 2013 while still teaching. The rally has lifted his estimated net worth to $1.4 billion, according to Forbes.
He holds a Ph.D. in mechanics from Jilin University, where he later taught, and left academia in 2019 to focus on GK Precision full time.
What does it make? Based in Changzhou, the company makes flow controllers that precisely measure and dispense the gases and liquids used to produce chips. Customers include BYD, battery giant Contemporary Amperex TechnologyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and FoxconnDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →; it competes with US-based NordsonDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Japan's HoribaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
By the numbers: Revenue rose more than 20% last year to 510.6 million yuan, while net profit climbed by a third to 132.7 million yuan, according to its prospectus. GK Precision plans to spend the IPO proceeds on research and development, including a new research center in China.
Why now? China is pushing to strengthen its domestic technology supply chain amid rivalry with the US, while an AI boom fuels demand for chips. The country produced 334.2 billion integrated circuits in the first seven months of 2026, up 23.1% from a year earlier.
The signal: GK Precision's debut shows investor appetite for homegrown suppliers of the precision tools that keep China's chip lines running, as Beijing seeks to reduce reliance on foreign equipment.
Read more: e.vnexpress.net
Image credit: Kitmondo.com
