From Reuters via Channel News Asia, July 6:
South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix will launch a U.S. listing on Monday to raise about $28 billion, according to regulatory filings, as it capitalises on the global artificial intelligence boom with one of the world's largest new share sales.
The company will sell 17.79 million new shares in the depository receipt listing on the Nasdaq. Ten ADRs will represent one common share and the stock will be sold in a price range that is due to be revealed on Monday, based on SK Hynix's Seoul trading price.
SK Hynix's share price was down 4 per cent at 2,327,000 won each on Monday, but the stock is up about 273 per cent this year, as it rides surging global investor demand for AI stocks. Korea's KOSPI was down 2.2 per cent on Monday.
Memory chip stocks were volatile in recent sessions due in part to renewed investor concerns about how long the boom would last.
"While market volatility has been quite high recently, I would expect demand for SK Hynix shares to remain relatively robust," said Albert Yong, a managing partner at Petra Capital Management.
South Korea last week unveiled a sweeping industrial strategy centred on semiconductors and AI, including a $576 billion chip investment program in the country's southwest to help spread returns from the boom.
SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics will anchor the investment program, the government said.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Monday ordered officials to move quickly to get to work on major chip and AI projects announced last week.
He warned that delays in permits, land acquisition, and securing power and water supply could undermine the country's bid to dominate advanced industries.
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SK Hynix has been among the world's largest beneficiaries of the AI boom as it outperformed its major rivals Samsung and Micron.
"This is more than a liquidity event," said Dave Mazza, the chief executive officer of Roundhill Investments in New York, which manages an exchange-traded fund tracking DRAM manufacturers, which is one of the most popular ways for U.S. investors to trade SK Hynix's stock. "SK Hynix has been one of the most important companies in the world that most U.S. institutions could not easily own."....
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