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SK Hynix raises $26.5bn in NY share sale, largest foreign US debut

The offering sold 177.9 million American depositary shares at $149 each, with trading starting Friday on the Nasdaq.

Reported · Written up by our desk · IPOs

South Korean memory chipmaker SK Hynix has raised $26.5bn in a New York share offering, the largest US debut ever by a foreign firm, BBC Business reported. The company sold 177.9 million American depositary shares, or ADS, for $149 each, and the shares are set to begin trading Friday on the Nasdaq.

SK Hynix is a key supplier to Nvidia, and its valuation surged in South Korea as demand for AI chips boomed. The outlet said the firm’s market value topped $1tn in its home country in May, and its share price has more than tripled in South Korea this year, lifting the Kospi index by more than 70%.

The listing is being watched as a test of whether investor enthusiasm for memory chip makers will persist, according to Seoul National University finance professor Jaewon Choi, as cited by BBC Business. The outlet also noted the ADS structure, with each ADS equal to a tenth of a Seoul-traded common share, designed to make the shares easier for US investors to access.

BBC Business added that the AI boom is fueling a wave of capital raising by chip and AI-related companies. It cited SK Hynix’s recent Mega US fundraising alongside SpaceX’s $85.7bn IPO in June, and said AI developers Anthropic and OpenAI are also preparing to go public.

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