SK Hynix has decided against a US IPO of Solidigm, which earlier reporting said could seek a valuation of up to $150 billion, Reuters reported on 23 October, citing the Korea Economic Daily and its unnamed industry sources. The reported decision concerns SK Hynix’s US-based NAND flash memory and solid-state drive subsidiary in Rancho Cordova, California. It follows a parliamentary hearing in South Korea at which a regulator challenged the proposed listing.
Key points
- The Korea Economic Daily reported that SK Hynix had decided not to pursue a US IPO of Solidigm.
- South Korea’s financial regulators judged that the proposed transaction would violate dual-listing rules, the Financial Supervisory Service governor told a parliamentary hearing.
- Reuters had previously reported a possible valuation of up to $150 billion for Solidigm.
Solidigm’s proposed US flotation
Reuters had previously reported that Solidigm might seek a US listing as soon as 2027, with a valuation of up to $150 billion. That account preceded the reported decision to drop the plan. Benzinga carried the earlier Reuters account in its 20 October coverage of regulatory scrutiny surrounding the proposed transaction.
Earlier AI Affairs reporting on the proposed flotation said it could raise $10 billion and that Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley had been selected as banks. The possible proceeds and valuation were attached to a transaction that the Korea Economic Daily now reports SK Hynix will not pursue.
SK Hynix had previously said it was considering various ways to strengthen Solidigm’s competitiveness, while saying that it had made no decision. The Korea Economic Daily’s account marks a change from the company’s previously stated position, though the reported decision comes from unnamed industry sources rather than an SK Hynix announcement.
Lee Chan-jin challenges the listing
South Korea tightened its dual-listing rules in July to protect minority shareholders. The Financial Supervisory Service was examining whether a US listing for Solidigm could breach those restrictions, according to Benzinga’s 20 October report. The rules were therefore a direct issue for the proposed flotation before the Korea Economic Daily reported that SK Hynix had dropped it.
Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin told a parliamentary hearing that his agency and the Financial Services Commission had judged the proposed transaction to be a violation of the dual-listing rules, Reuters reported. The assessment concerned the structure of a possible listing of a subsidiary of SK Hynix, a South Korean listed company.
SK Hynix had said it would evaluate measures to protect shareholders amid concerns about a potential Solidigm listing, Benzinga reported. That undertaking belonged to the period when a flotation remained under consideration. The subsequent newspaper account says SK Hynix has decided not to take Solidigm to the US market through an IPO.
SK Hynix and shareholder exposure
The National Pension Service reduced its holding in SK Hynix to 7.32% from 7.5%, Benzinga reported in its 20 October account. Its figures placed that change alongside a broader fall in the estimated value of the pension service’s stakes of at least 5% in listed companies. The holding figures preceded the 23 October report on Solidigm’s IPO plan.
SK Hynix had no immediate response to a request for comment on the Korea Economic Daily report, Reuters reported on 23 October.
