Samsung is reportedly in the preliminary process of exploring the possibility of issuing ADRs in the United States

PANews July 14, citing a Bloomberg report, said that sources familiar with the matter revealed that Samsung Electronics is in the early stages of evaluating the issuance of American depositary receipts, has held preliminary discussions with investment banks, but has not yet decided whether to proceed. The talks are still part of feasibility assessment rather than a specific plan. Last week, SK hynix completed its $26.5 billion U.S. listing, setting a record for the largest IPO by a foreign company going to the U.S., which provides momentum for Samsung to re-evaluate. But Samsung faces bigger challenges—its business spans multiple areas including memory chips, logic chips, smartphones, and consumer electronics. Its structure is far more complex than SK hynix’s, and with recurring labor-management disputes, it may increase the difficulty of designing the deal’s transaction structure.

Samsung’s stock price has risen about 120% year to date, and its market capitalization has surpassed $1 trillion. Over the same period, SK hynix is up about 194%, with a market cap of about $900 billion. Last month, Samsung and the SK Group announced plans to build two semiconductor fabs each, with a total investment of 800 trillion won.