SK Hynix raises $26.5B in the biggest foreign IPO in US history, is urged to build new US fabs
The AI chip boom just produced its biggest Wall Street moment yet. SK Hynix, a South Korean memory chip giant, said Friday it has raised $26.5 billion (KRW 40 trillion) in its U.S.
market debut. SK Hynix sold 177.9 million American depositary shares (ADRs) at $149 each, structured so U.S. investors can buy in at roughly a tenth of what a full share costs in Seoul. This deal, the largest-ever U.S. debut by a non-American company, topped Alibaba’s $25 billion IPO in 2014. The company begins trading on the Nasdaq today, Friday, July 10, under the temporary ticker SKHYV. Regular trading opens Monday, July 13, when the ticker officially becomes SKHY. So far, U.S. investors are lapping it up. The stock opened at 14% over its IPO price, and the price was still rising in early trading on Friday. This even as it priced its U.S. shares at a 2.7% premium to its own three-day average back home in Seoul, according to its Korea Stock Exchange filing. Yet, demand for the offering was reportedly more than seven times the available shares, per media reports. That’s especially amazing considering Korean companies have long traded at a discount to their global peers. That valuation gap is called the Korea Discount.
