SK Hynix to seek financing in the U.S., which could exceed Alibaba’s record for the largest deal in history; ADR-backed financing could reach up to $290 billion

BlockBeats News, June 24 — South Korea’s memory chip giant SK Hynix plans to raise up to 45 trillion won (about $29 billion) by issuing American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) in New York, and the related transaction will begin in July. If successful, this financing scale will exceed Alibaba’s 2014 $25 billion IPO, becoming one of the largest overseas equity financing projects in South Korean corporate history and edging toward the global capital markets historical record.

According to the plan, SK Hynix will first issue shares in South Korea, then deposit the relevant shares with the Korean securities depository as the underlying securities for the ADR. Korean regulators are expected to complete the review by July 3. The funds raised will be mainly used for the construction of the Yongin semiconductor cluster in South Korea and a plant in Indiana in the United States, as well as the purchase of EUV extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment to support the expansion of AI-related advanced storage production capacity. Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America have been selected as joint lead underwriters.

SK Hynix’s confidence in raising funds in the U.S. stems from its strong position in the AI industry chain. As a leading company in the global high-bandwidth memory (HBM) sector, the company is a core supplier of NVIDIA’s AI accelerator chips. Driven by AI demand, its stock price has already gained more than 300% year-to-date. CEO Guo Luzheng said the company hopes to enhance its global influence by leveraging the U.S. capital market and obtain a valuation level comparable to other AI hardware companies.