Challenging Alibaba's Record! SK Hynix Sets U.S. IPO Price at $149, Targeting $26.5 Billion in Fundraising

SK Hynix's U.S. listing plan has made new progress. According to Bloomberg, citing sources on Thursday (9th), SK Hynix plans to set the offering price of its American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) at $149 per unit, representing a 3.1% premium over the closing price of its South Korean ordinary shares on the same day. If confirmed, this would raise approximately $26.5 billion, surpassing Alibaba's 2014 record of $25 billion and setting a new benchmark for foreign IPOs in the U.S.

Each ADR represents one-tenth of an ordinary share, as disclosed in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Sources noted that final terms, including pricing, remain under discussion and could still change. SK Hynix has declined to comment.

The company plans to issue 177.9 million ADR units, equivalent to 17.79 million ordinary shares. Bloomberg previously reported that the offering received over seven times the subscribed demand, attracting strong interest from global long-term funds, tech-focused funds, sovereign wealth funds, and international institutional investors targeting Asian markets.

Institutions including Baillie Gifford, Coatue Management, and Situational Awareness Partners have expressed subscription interest totaling up to $7 billion, reflecting strong market confidence in SK Hynix's AI memory business.

The underwriting syndicate is led by Bank of America (BAC-US), Citigroup (C-US), Goldman Sachs (GS-US), and JPMorgan Chase (JPM-US), with nine other financial institutions participating.

However, as enthusiasm for AI infrastructure investment cools slightly, SK Hynix and its peers have experienced increased stock volatility. SK Hynix's share price has declined about 25% from its historical closing high in late June, and memory stocks like Micron (MU-US) have also fluctuated. Nevertheless, the company's stock has still surged over 300% year-to-date, reflecting sustained market optimism toward high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and other AI memory demand.

Additionally, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics are expected to benefit from South Korea's approximately $880 billion semiconductor support program, enabling further domestic investment and strengthening global semiconductor competitiveness.

According to the schedule, SK Hynix ADRs will begin 'when-issued trading' on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on Friday (10th) under the ticker 'SKHYV', with regular trading commencing under the ticker 'SKHY' on July 13.