SMART-CORE (HKEX: 02166) surged more than 24% in morning trading. At the time of writing, the stock was up 23.80% to HK$4.37, with a turnover of HK$15.53 million.

The company announced on the evening of June 22 that it had entered into a placement agreement with a placing agent. The agreement involves the issuance of up to approximately 97.736 million new shares at a price of HK$3.00 per share, aiming to raise a maximum of HK$293 million, with an estimated net proceeds of around HK$291 million.

The placement price represents a discount of approximately 15% to the closing price of HK$3.53 on June 22. The new shares will account for about 16.67% of the enlarged share capital. They will be placed to no fewer than six independent placees, and it is expected that none of the placees will become a substantial shareholder. The company intends to use the net proceeds from the placement for expanding its memory and optoelectronic product businesses.