SK Hynix Files for U.S. Listing, Aims to Raise Up to $10 Billion in Capital

South Korea’s semiconductor company SK Hynix disclosed on Wednesday (March 25) that it has submitted an application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to go public in the U.S., potentially as early as this year.

This Korean storage giant first expressed its intention to list in the U.S. as early as December last year. The company aims to raise new funds to expand capacity amid the surge in storage demand driven by the AI boom.

In its latest regulatory filing, SK Hynix stated that its goal is to promote the listing of American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) in the U.S. before 2026, but details such as the scale, method, and schedule of issuance have not yet been finalized.

Compared to a direct listing in the U.S., ADRs typically have lower liquidity, which may deter some investors. However, since ADRs are issued based on existing shares rather than new share issuance, they help protect the value of current shareholders.

The document states: “The final decision on whether to list will be made after a comprehensive review of SEC approval, market conditions, demand forecasts, and other relevant factors.” The company also indicated that once the details are finalized, further disclosures will be made within six months at the latest.

A day earlier, South Korean media reported that SK Hynix is considering raising between 10 trillion and 15 trillion Korean won (approximately $67 billion to $100 billion USD), based on current exchange rates, about $67 billion to $100 billion USD.

SK Hynix is one of the world’s leading suppliers of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which are widely used in AI processors. The rapid growth in demand has already caused a global storage shortage and driven prices sharply higher.

In response to supply tightness, SK Hynix and its competitors Micron and Samsung are accelerating capacity expansion. The day before, CEO Kwak Noh-Jung announced plans to raise over 100 trillion Korean won in net cash for long-term strategic investments.

In a letter to shareholders, it was mentioned that the company’s M15X wafer fab in Cheongju, South Korea, has been completed ahead of schedule. The $15 billion Korean Yongin semiconductor cluster project and the advanced packaging plant in Indiana, USA, are also progressing smoothly.

The letter highlighted that the storage market is experiencing “unprecedented growth” and emphasized that “storage is no longer just a simple component but a key value product that determines AI system performance.”

On Tuesday, the company also announced an order to purchase advanced chip manufacturing equipment worth 11.95 trillion Korean won (about $79.7 billion USD), setting a record for the scale of such disclosed orders.

(Source: Cailian Press)