SK Hynix, a South Korean chipmaker and key supplier to Nvidia, raised $26.5 billion in its New York share offering, making it the largest ever listing by a foreign company in the US. The company sold 177.9 million American depositary shares (ADS) at $149 each, with each ADS representing one-tenth of a Seoul-traded common share. This offering surpassed Alibaba's $25 billion listing in 2014 and is the second-biggest IPO in US market history, behind SpaceX's roughly $85.7 billion offering. Demand for the offering was reportedly over seven times the number of shares available, highlighting strong investor appetite for a company central to the AI supply chain.
The proceeds from the listing are earmarked for significant expansion projects, including the construction of a new fabrication plant at the Yongin semiconductor cluster, the P&T7 advanced packaging plant in Cheongju, and the purchase of manufacturing equipment such as extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography scanners. This investment aims to expand production capacity to meet the surging demand for advanced memory chips driven by the global race to build artificial intelligence infrastructure. SK Hynix currently holds 58 percent of the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market by revenue, and these investments are intended to solidify that lead.
The Nasdaq listing is expected to improve access for US investors who previously faced barriers in buying SK Hynix shares through overseas exchanges. Analysts believe this move could help address the valuation gap between SK Hynix and its US rival, Micron. While SK Hynix has often had a lower price-to-earnings ratio despite strong performance, listing on the same exchange could lead to a re-rating of its shares as global access improves. The shares began conditional trading on Friday under the ticker symbol "SKHYV" and are expected to switch to "SKHY" for regular trading on Monday, with the offering closing on Tuesday.
Separately, EasyJet reportedly received an acquisition bid of £5.7 billion (approximately $7.2 billion) from private equity firm Apollo. This news adds an additional layer to the daily financial headlines, indicating significant M&A activity in other sectors alongside the semiconductor boom.
