SK Hynix, a South Korean memory chip producer that supplies Nvidia, has completed its largest-ever foreign listing in the United States by raising a record 26.5 bn dollars.
In a fixed-price offering, the firm sold 177.9 million American depositary shares at $149 each. The shares rose 17% in their first trading day on the Nasdaq exchange.
Demand for the shares exceeded supply by about seven times, enabling the company to charge a price 2.9 % higher than its target price rather than offering a discount to investors.
Each American depositary share represents a tenth of a common share traded on the Korean exchange. The U.S. float gives American investors direct access to SK Hynix without the need to trade overseas.
SK Hynix plans to use the proceeds to expand South Korea’s chip‑making and AI capabilities, with investment in new plants and advanced chip development. Seoul National University professor Jaewon Choi views the listing as a way to draw capital from a market with fewer barriers than South Korea.
While the government counts on the move to fund domestic growth, business academics warn that a Nasdaq listing could draw funds away from the local market.
South Korea has recently announced more than 880 bn dollars worth of joint investment plans with SK Hynix and Samsung, both firms valued above one trillion dollars.
