SK Hynix's indirect investment in the Japanese memory semiconductor NAND flash manufacturer Kioxia Holdings (formerly Toshiba Memory) is set to be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in mid-next month, according to a report by Nihon Keizai Shimbun on the 21st.
According to the report, Kioxia is expected to receive listing approval from the Tokyo Stock Exchange on the following day, the 22nd. The estimated market capitalization is around 750 billion yen (approximately 6.8 trillion KRW), which is far below the initially targeted 1.5 trillion yen or more. However, it is anticipated that the memory market conditions will improve from 2025 due to demand from AI (artificial intelligence) data centers.
Kioxia plans to raise up to 99.1 billion yen through the listing. Previously, Kioxia applied for listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on August 23 but later postponed it. Additionally, on the 8th of this month, to shorten the time required for the listing process, Kioxia became the first in Japan to use the "pre-approval submission method" by submitting the securities registration statement to the Financial Services Agency before receiving listing approval from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
After listing approval, securities firms will proceed to decide the public offering price. Nihon Keizai reported, "Although the market capitalization forecast falls short of the initial target, the company aims to increase profitability through production expansion investments after listing to raise market evaluation." It is also known that Kioxia's major shareholders, the U.S. investment fund Bain Capital and Toshiba, will sell part of their shares during the initial public offering (IPO) process.
Kioxia was funded 56% by a Korea-U.S.-Japan joint consortium including Bain Capital, and 41% by Toshiba. SK Hynix invested about 4 trillion KRW in this consortium in 2018.
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