South Korean computer chip maker SK Hynix has raised $26.5bn (£19.8bn) in its New York share offering, marking the largest ever listing by a foreign firm in the US, according to a BBC report by Osmond Chia.
Record US Listing
The company, a key supplier to artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Nvidia, said on Thursday that it had sold 177.9 million American depositary shares (ADS) for $149 each. The shares are set to begin trading on Friday on the Nasdaq. SK Hynix saw its market value top $1tn in its home country in May, lifted by the boom in demand for AI chips, the BBC reported.
Its share price has more than tripled in South Korea this year, which along with Samsung Electronics has helped boost the benchmark Kospi index by more than 70% over the same period, according to the BBC.
| Offering Detail | Figure |
|---|---|
| Total proceeds | $26.5bn (£19.8bn) |
| Shares sold | 177.9 million ADS |
| Offer price | $149 per ADS |
| Listing venue | Nasdaq |
| Trading start | Friday |
Strong Investor Demand
The offering gives US investors a way to buy SK Hynix shares without having to trade via an overseas stock exchange. This gives the company easier access to the huge amounts of potential investment from the world's biggest economy, the BBC reported. Demand for the offering was reportedly over seven times more than the number of shares available, highlighting the strong investor appetite for a key company in the AI supply chain, the BBC noted.
Implications for Trade and Business
For CFOs and treasury professionals, the successful upsize and pricing of SK Hynix's ADS offering demonstrate the depth of US capital markets for foreign firms, particularly those in the AI semiconductor value chain. The company's ability to raise $26.5bn at a premium price ($149 per share) reduces its reliance on domestic funding and trade finance instruments, potentially lowering its overall cost of capital for future investments in data centre chips.
Investors tracking trade-affected markets will note that SK Hynix's valuation — exceeding $1tn in May — reflects sustained global demand for advanced memory chips used in AI infrastructure. The Kospi's 70%+ year-to-date gain, driven in part by SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, signals strong capital inflows into South Korea's technology sector, which may support the won and improve the country's trade balance in electronics.
For finance executives, the record listing also highlights the importance of cross-border equity offerings as an alternative to traditional debt financing for large-scale capacity expansion. SK Hynix, as one of the world's biggest manufacturers of advanced memory chips for data centres, now has a direct US investor base, which could facilitate future fundraising for its AI-related capital expenditure without exposing the company to currency hedging costs of domestic Korean won issuances.
The oversubscription — reportedly over seven times the shares available — indicates that institutional investors are eager to gain exposure to the AI supply chain via liquid US-listed instruments. This could encourage other Asian chipmakers to consider similar ADS programs, altering the landscape for trade finance as equity capital replaces some bank-intermediated trade credit.
