SK Hynix, the second most valuable company in South Korea behind only Samsung, is set to begin trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol SKHY.
The South Korean chipmaker priced its American depositary shares at $149 each ahead of its highly anticipated U.S. public trading debut on the exchange.
The IPO consists of 177.9 million ADS, each representing one-tenth of a share of the company’s common stock, giving investors a relatively accessible entry point into the offering.
SK Hynix is hoping to raise $28 billion via the share sale, which would make it the largest foreign listing in history by a significant margin.
Demand for the offering has been overwhelming, with investor interest running at seven times the number of available shares ahead of the debut.
SK Hynix has said Baillie Gifford Overseas, investment funds managed by Coatue Management, and Situational Awareness Partners have each indicated interest in purchasing up to a combined $7 billion of its U.S. ADRs.
The company plans to use proceeds from the sale for capital expenditures related to expanding production facilities in South Korea and acquiring extreme ultraviolet lithography scanners used to produce advanced chips.
SK Hynix is also building a $4 billion production facility in Indiana and growing its Solidigm business near Sacramento, California, as part of a broader push into the U.S. market.
The listing comes after a more than sevenfold increase in the company’s stock price over the past year, a rally that has lifted SK Hynix’s market cap to approximately $1 trillion.
Along with Micron and Samsung, SK Hynix is one of three primary makers of computer memory used in laptops and phones sold by companies such as Apple and Dell.
Surging demand for artificial intelligence has transformed what was once a quiet corner of the semiconductor market, creating severe shortages for memory chips and sending prices to record highs.
SK Hynix is the leader in high-performance memory used in AI chips from Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, and holds a 56.4% share of the HBM market according to its SEC filing.
The U.S. listing is widely expected to help narrow SK Hynix’s valuation gap with U.S. rival Micron, which trades at a 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio of 6.66 times versus SK Hynix’s 5.5 times.
The offering also highlights the enduring appeal of ADRs for Asian firms seeking to attract U.S. investors and boost valuations relative to domestically traded peers.
