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SK Hynix’s U.S.-listed shares fell over 3% in overnight trading ahead of Monday after Bloomberg reported that Solidigm, the chipmaker’s U.S. storage subsidiary, is considering an initial public offering as soon as next year.
The potential listing, which could value the company at $100 billion, appears to be raising concerns among investors because of what it could mean for SK Hynix’s ownership of a valuable part of its NAND business.
A Solidigm IPO could unlock the unit’s value and provide capital for expansion, but selling a stake would also mean SK Hynix shareholders would own a smaller portion of its future earnings.
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That concern is particularly relevant because of SK Group’s already complicated ownership structure. The Korea Corporate Governance Forum has argued that a U.S. listing could deepen the group’s so-called pyramid ownership structure, according to Bloomberg.
SK Hynix owns its NAND business through a U.S. subsidiary known as AI Company, making Solidigm a so-called “grandchild company” within the group, according to the report.
Solidigm is the U.S.-based data-storage company created after SK Hynix acquired Intel’s NAND and SSD business in a deal valued at $9 billion. The transaction gave SK Hynix Intel’s SSD business and related NAND assets, with Solidigm becoming the vehicle for operating the acquired business.
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The unit is important because it gives SK Hynix exposure to enterprise SSDs and data-center storage, complementing its strength in DRAM and high-bandwidth memory. SK Hynix has also described Solidigm’s enterprise SSD business as a key part of the AI data-center ecosystem.
The report comes less than three months after SK Hynix began trading on Nasdaq. Its ADRs were priced at $149 and opened at $170.
The shares subsequently hit a post-listing record of $198.63 on Sept. 9, about 33% above the IPO price. Even after the overnight pullback, SK Hynix remains roughly 25% above its offering price.
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On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment for SKHY was ‘neutral,’ unchanged over the past week. “$SKHY goood! They’re beating up memory overnight. It will be a great opportunity to load the boat and sell on the recovery tomorrow,” a trader wrote.
For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.
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