- Offering surpasses Alibaba's 2014 record
South Korean chipmaker SK hynix raised $26.5 billion through its Nasdaq offering, completing the largest US-listed share sale by a foreign company.
The company priced 177.9 million American Depositary Shares, or ADSs, at $149 each, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Each ADS represents one-tenth of an SK hynix common share, meaning the offering covers 17.79 million newly issued common shares.
The securities are set to trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker SKHY, while the company’s primary shares will remain listed in Seoul.
Here is how the transaction ranks and why it matters:
Largest US share sale by foreign company
The $26.5 billion transaction surpassed the $25 billion raised by Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba through its New York listing in 2014.
Alibaba initially raised $21.8 billion, with the total increasing after underwriters exercised an option to buy additional shares.
SK hynix’s offering therefore becomes the largest US share sale by a non-US company.
It also ranks as the second-largest US equity offering on record, behind SpaceX’s $75 billion share sale.
Not conventional first-time IPO
Unlike Alibaba’s 2014 debut, the SK hynix transaction is not the company’s first public listing.
The chipmaker was already publicly traded in South Korea and issued new common shares underlying the US-listed ADSs.
The structure gives international investors easier dollar-denominated access to the company.
SK hynix said it would use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including capital expenditure, production expansion and advanced semiconductor equipment.
Among world’s biggest share offerings
The deal also ranks among the largest public equity offerings globally.
Saudi Aramco raised an initial $25.6 billion in its 2019 IPO, with the total rising to $29.4 billion after an over-allotment option was exercised.
The comparison is not exact, as Aramco conducted a first-time domestic listing, while SK hynix is completing a secondary US listing through depositary shares.
The South Korean company nevertheless joins a small group of issuers that have raised more than $25 billion in a public share sale.
AI demand boosts chipmaker
SK hynix has emerged as one of the main beneficiaries of the artificial intelligence investment boom, led by its position in high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, chips used alongside advanced processors in AI servers and data centers.
HBM stacks memory vertically, allowing data to move more rapidly while consuming less power than conventional memory configurations.
The technology is essential for graphics processors and other accelerators used to train and operate generative AI systems.
SK hynix established an early lead in advanced HBM products and became a major supplier to the global AI semiconductor industry.
Demand has grown faster than production and advanced packaging capacity, creating supply constraints and supporting higher memory prices.
The company is expanding the output of HBM3E and developing HBM4 products for the next generation of AI processors.
Strong investor demand
The offering attracted orders worth more than seven times the number of shares available, highlighting strong institutional demand, according to Bloomberg.
Investor interest has been supported by expectations that technology companies will continue spending heavily on AI data centers, processors and memory.
The US listing could also broaden SK hynix’s investor base and narrow the valuation gap with semiconductor companies already traded in the US.
From near collapse to semiconductor leader
The offering marks a dramatic turnaround for a company that was close to collapse nearly 25 years ago.
Then known as Hynix Semiconductor, it accumulated heavy debt following aggressive expansion and the acquisition of LG Semiconductor during a memory-industry downturn.
Its creditors took control in the early 2000s, while US chipmaker Micron explored acquiring its memory operations.
The proposed transaction was rejected by Hynix’s board in 2002, and the company underwent years of restructuring, including asset sales and debt-for-equity swaps.
SK Group acquired control in 2012 and renamed it SK hynix, providing financial backing for sustained investment in advanced memory technologies.
That early commitment to HBM later became a decisive advantage as generative AI drove demand for faster and more energy-efficient memory.
