South Korea's SK hynix plans $28B US IPO through Nasdaq ADS listing

South Korean semiconductor giant SK hynix is preparing a $28 billion US public offering of American Depositary Shares, or ADSs, on Nasdaq, in what could become the largest ADR listing in Wall Street history.

The company said it filed a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for the proposed offering of ADSs representing its common shares.

SK hynix also applied to list the instruments on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “SKHY.”

Under the planned structure, the offering will be carried out through depositary shares linked to newly issued SK hynix common shares. Market reports indicate that the transaction would involve about 17.79 million new common shares, with 10 ADSs representing one common share.

Proceeds are expected to be used mainly for capital expenditures, including expanding semiconductor production capacity and investing in advanced chipmaking equipment.

The planned Nasdaq listing is aimed at giving US and global investors easier access to one of the world’s leading memory chip producers, whose shares are primarily traded in South Korea.

AI demand boosts chipmaker

SK hynix has become one of the main beneficiaries of the artificial intelligence boom, particularly through high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, chips used in AI servers and data centers.

Surging demand for HBM chips has created supply constraints and supported higher prices across the memory sector, helping SK hynix and its rivals post record earnings in recent quarters.

The planned offering also marks a major turnaround for SK hynix, which was close to collapse nearly 25 years ago due to heavy debt following an aggressive expansion strategy.

The company was once considered a potential acquisition target for US rival Micron, but later recovered to become one of South Korea’s most important technology companies.

SK hynix recently overtook Samsung Electronics to become South Korea’s most valuable publicly listed company, driven by investor optimism over AI-related chip demand.