The "core" investment battle of big funds: 342.8 billion yuan, an overview of the 9-year layout!

The second phase of the big fund has been active recently, and several new investments were announced in the month, once again attracting the attention of the semiconductor industry.

On December 5, the media revealed that Shanghai Huali Microelectronics Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Huali Microelectronics") had undergone industrial and commercial changes on November 28, adding the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Phase II Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Huali Microelectronics"). "Big Fund Phase II") is a shareholder. At the same time, the company's registered capital has increased from approximately 22.07 billion yuan to approximately 28.4 billion yuan. The shareholding ratio of Big Fund Phase II is 10.2374%.

In November, the second phase of the large fund successively announced its capital subscription for Silan Micro shares and its investment in Qingwei Intelligence, a reconfigurable intelligent computing chip company.

After internal management adjustments at the beginning of the year, the second phase of the large fund seems to be accelerating its investment pace; there are also rumors in the industry that the new large fund is also actively raising funds.

As an important investment force in domestic semiconductors, big funds have always played a "wind vane" role in investment in the industry. The second phase of the big fund is accelerating. It is reported that the new phase of the big fund industry is being prepared. Which companies are favored by the big funds? ? Xinshiye compiled his latest investment map and reviewed the investment layout of large funds for reference in the industry.

In order to assist the development of the domestic semiconductor industry, the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund (hereinafter referred to as "Big Fund Phase I") was established on September 26, 2014. Data show that the first phase of the large fund raised 138.7 billion yuan. In 2019, the first phase of investment by the Big Fund came to an end. The National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Phase II Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the "Big Fund Phase II") was established on October 22 of the same year to take over the investment in the domestic semiconductor industry and Taking the scale of funds to a higher level, according to public information , the second phase of the large fund raised 204.15 billion yuan.

From the beginning of its establishment, the Big Fund has taken "strengthening and replenishing the chain" of the domestic semiconductor industry as its mission. According to statistics, there are 23 public investment companies in the first phase of the Big Fund, with a total of 75 effective investment projects. The investment scope covers the upper and middle levels of the semiconductor industry. , all downstream links. From the perspective of fund distribution, the first phase of the large fund focuses on chip manufacturing, of which chip manufacturing accounts for 67%, chip design accounts for 17%, packaging and testing accounts for 10%, and equipment materials account for 6%.

Data source: Qichacha

Drawing: Mr. Xin

The latest investment map of the second phase of the big fund shows that its investment has inherited the important investment of the first phase of the big fund to a certain extent, focusing its investment mainly on the chip manufacturing process. SMIC groups such as SMIC, SMIC Southern, SMIC Capital, and SMIC Oriental, Huahong groups such as Huahong Group, Shanghai Huali Microelectronics, and Hangzhou Fuxin basically accounted for the main investment amount of the second phase of the large fund. Among them, large The largest investment in the second phase of the fund's public investment went to SMIC, amounting to US$1.5 million (approximately RMB 10.7 billion). It is worth noting that in the second phase of the big fund, there have been 9 investments in chip manufacturing enterprise projects, and the financing scale has reached the scale of 100 million yuan, of which 8 investments have reached the scale of 1 billion yuan. The chip manufacturing segment is still the main investment target of the second phase of the large fund.

IDM original companies with wafer production lines have also attracted the attention of the second phase of large funds. The second phase of the big fund prefers to invest in a series of subsidiaries of storage (Changxin and Changcun), power devices (Silan Micro, China Resources Micro) and analog chip companies (Cinmax Semiconductor, Dongke Semiconductor). The single investment amount is large, and Invest frequently.

Data source: Qichacha

Drawing: Mr. Xin

Semiconductor upstream equipment and materials companies are also important investment areas for the second phase of the large fund. As of December 7, 2023, the second phase of the Big Fund has invested in a total of 7 semiconductor material companies, 6 semiconductor equipment companies, and 13 materials and equipment-related companies, 9 of which have public investment amounts of tens of millions of yuan.

There are currently 8 chip design companies that have received investment from the second phase of the big fund. Judging from the number of projects, they are the same as the 17% of the first phase of the big fund. However, from the perspective of the amount of investment, the proportion received by chip design companies is not High, except for Beijing Zhixin Micro and Ziguang Zhanrui, which received 461 million yuan and 189 million yuan respectively, reaching 100 million yuan in financing; Jihai received 28.42 million yuan; among the remaining 5, Saixin is an equity investment and the specific investment amount has not been disclosed, and the remaining Xi'an Aerospace Minxin, Yingren Technology, and Beijing Qingwei Intelligent received millions of yuan in financing, and Shanghai Suiyuan received 240,000 yuan in financing. The overall investment amount did not exceed 700 million yuan.

Design institutes that undertake EDA, CIM software required for wafer foundry production lines, and semiconductor project projects also received part of the investment amount from the second phase of the large fund. However, judging from the proportion of investment amount and the number of projects, these semiconductor links are not The current key investment targets of the second phase of the large fund.

Based on the investments of the first and second phases of large funds, we can see that there are similarities in the investment ideas of large funds in different periods, but there are also subtle differences.

The similarity is that first of all, the purpose of large funds to "strengthen and complement the chain" of the semiconductor industry chain is consistent, which is related to the mission of large funds to "promote the development of the domestic semiconductor industry chain."

In the field of investment, large funds generally focus on "replenishing the chain" of chip manufacturing, semiconductor materials, semiconductor equipment and other links that are currently relatively backward in domestic development , especially in the chip manufacturing link where the process is complex and the need for technological breakthroughs is urgent. Two phases of large funds They all invest heavily in leading companies in this field, and in chip design, a relatively mature domestic semiconductor industry chain link, they focus more on "strong links."

Generally speaking, the investments of large funds cover the entire semiconductor industry chain, but in terms of specific targets, they will focus on flowing large investments to leading companies in each industry chain link, such as SMIC and Huahong in the chip manufacturing link. ; Changcun and Changxin in storage; GigaDevice and Unisoc in chip design; Northern Huachuang in equipment companies; Xinsheng Jinko Semiconductor (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shanghai Silicon Industry) among materials companies, etc.

This investment idea is conducive to the accelerated development of leading companies and is in line with the development logic of the semiconductor industry chain. For a long time, the semiconductor industry business has shown a highly concentrated trend. Several leading companies in the industry often occupy about 90% of the global market share. Domestic semiconductors In the long run, the rise of strength depends on the breakthroughs of these leading companies. This investment strategy is also conducive to ensuring the safety of funds and certain benefits to maintain the sustainable development of large funds.

Secondly, in terms of investment methods, the investment methods of the two large funds are mainly divided into two types. One is direct equity investment, including cross-border mergers and acquisitions, private placement, agreement transfer, capital increase, joint ventures and other methods to optimize the corporate equity structure. Improve enterprise efficiency and management level; the other is to link up with local funds and social capital to participate in sub-funds. Among them, direct equity investment is the main investment method.

This investment method also paves the way for the subsequent "exit" of large funds. Generally speaking, companies with clear equity plans are companies that are on the eve of listing or have already been listed. Through methods such as reducing holdings and transferring shares, large funds The fund was successfully exited.

This is related to the formulation of the investment plan at the beginning of the establishment of the large fund. When the large fund was established, it formulated a 15-year investment plan, which was divided into an investment period, a recovery period, and an extension period of 5 years each. Once the time is up, it must exit as agreed. The nature of equity investment can ensure the smooth execution of this plan.

Finally, in terms of specific investment targets, large funds also seem to be interested in avoiding "risky" investments. For example, in areas subject to overseas restrictions such as AI and GPU, large funds have not expressed investment intentions, or are motivated by domestic concerns. The development of these fields is still limited by people, and investment still has certain risks. On the other hand, most domestic companies in these fields that have attracted high attention from overseas are currently developing in a low-key manner, and may not be willing to accept high-profile investments from large funds. Under the "two-way flight", companies in these fields generally receive investment from institutions rather than large funds.

As large funds invest deeply into the domestic semiconductor industry chain, the differences between the first and second phases have also emerged. The main difference lies in the specific choice of investment objects.

In terms of investment objects, both major funds focus on the development of the entire semiconductor industry chain. However, relatively speaking, the first phase focuses on chip manufacturing and chip design, while the second phase focuses more on chip manufacturing, semiconductor materials and equipment. .

In terms of specific investment choices, in addition to investing in a single semiconductor company in the first phase of the large fund, it is also actively cooperating with local investment institutions. The investment layout of the first phase shows that its investment targets include nearly 20 investment institutions, but in the second phase of the large fund During the period, all investment objects are enterprises and there are no investment institutions.

Based on the investment preferences of the two large funds in the previous period, companies that receive investment from large funds need to have the following characteristics:

1. Key enterprises in the semiconductor industry chain, preferably leading enterprises in subdivided fields;

2. The development has a certain scale and a clear equity structure, which is conducive to the advancement and retreat of large fund investment;

3. It is a weak link in the domestic semiconductor industry chain and has long-term development potential.

While large fund investment is in full swing, it is reported in the industry that the new phase of large funds is also actively raising funds. There is speculation that photolithography equipment companies may be the main investment targets.

It is foreseeable that after 9 years of investment experience, large funds have a clearer grasp of the trends in the semiconductor market, industry shortcomings and the development of related enterprises. The rules will also be further improved, and the investment measures will be more mature. They will have a clearer understanding of the semiconductor industry. The continued investment is worth looking forward to.

However, investments by large funds also face challenges. Judging from the investments of the first two large funds, with the help of the funds and resources of the large funds, the invested semiconductor companies have accelerated their development to a certain extent during the investment period. However, once faced with the withdrawal of funds from large funds, the investment market's positive sentiment toward invested semiconductor companies, especially listed companies, has subsided, and stock prices may fall sharply. This reflects that from the perspective of long-term development of semiconductor companies, more long-term investment guidance from large funds is needed. The current 15-year investment plan of large funds is still too short for the time period required to "strengthen and supplement the chain" of the entire industrial chain.

In addition, judging from the investment groups of large funds in the first two phases, local departments are important investment targets of large funds. In the current global economic downturn, local investment will also face certain pressure. Under this background, large funds may face a "more cautious and conservative" attitude in future fund raising and subsequent investments.

References:

1. Tianfeng Securities "Review of the investment routes of large national funds: 70 chip projects, 4 major investment logics"

2. Nanfengchuang "The latest trends in Chinese chips, huge investments are about to pour in"

This article was edited by Kelvin. The content is for communication and learning purposes only. The pictures in the article are from Huawei's official website. If you have any questions, please contact us at info@gsi24.com.