SK Hynix plans record $29 billion Nasdaq ADR listing

South Korea's SK Hynix announced on Wednesday that it plans to raise up to 45.45 trillion won ($29.4 billion) through a listing of American Depositary Receipts on the Nasdaq, a deal that would dwarf any previous ADR offering and rank among the largest equity raises in history.thestar+2

The world's second-largest memory chipmaker said in a regulatory filing that it will issue 17.79 million new shares to back the ADR listing, with new shares priced at 2.55 million won each and ADRs at 255,500 won apiece. The final amounts will be determined after bookbuilding.yna+2

A Landmark Deal for AI Demand

The offering far exceeds earlier expectations. When SK Hynix first disclosed its confidential SEC filing in March, analysts estimated the deal at 10 to 15 trillion won. By early June, sources told Reuters the raise could reach $14 billion. The final figure announced Wednesday — more than double those projections — reflects surging investor appetite for AI-related semiconductor stocks.chosun+3

If completed at the stated size, the deal would surpass Alibaba's ↘ 3.72% 2014 New York debut, which initially raised $21.8 billion before a greenshoe option expanded it to $25 billion. BofA Securities Bank of America Corporation ↗ 2.29%, Citigroup ↗ 2.45%, Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ↗ 4.67%, and JP Morgan JPMorgan Chase & Co. ↗ 2.27% are managing the listing.dealbook.nytimes+4

Funding AI Factories

SK Hynix said proceeds will fund a chip factory in the city of Yongin, an advanced packaging fabrication facility in Cheongju, and the purchase of chipmaking equipment including an Extreme Ultraviolet Scanner. These investments are aimed at expanding production capacity for high-bandwidth memory chips used in AI data centers.chosun+1

As a key supplier to Nvidia ↘ 4.27%, SK Hynix has benefited from explosive demand for advanced memory that powers AI training and inference workloads. The company opted for the technology-heavy Nasdaq over the New York Stock Exchange to capitalize on investor enthusiasm for AI-linked equities, Reuters reported in June.reuters+2

Path to Trading

According to Yonhap News Agency, new shares will be listed on July 29, with a subscription and payment date of July 14. SK Hynix first disclosed its U.S. listing ambitions through a confidential Form F-1 filing with the SEC in March, and the regulator's review cleared the way for the formal announcement this week.reuters+5