SK Hynix priced its American depositary receipt offering at $149 a share on July 9 ahead of its New York Stock Exchange debut, setting what is expected to become the largest U.S. listing by a foreign company.
The South Korean semiconductor maker said the offering price was finalized at $149 per ADR, representing a premium of about 2.9% over the implied value of its common shares traded in Seoul.
SK Hynix’s common stock closed at 2.186 million won, equivalent to about $144 per ADR based on an exchange rate of 1,509.9 won per dollar. According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, each ADR represents one-tenth of an SK Hynix common share.
The offering is expected to raise about $26.5 billion, surpassing Alibaba Group’s $25 billion initial public offering in 2014 and becoming the largest New York listing by a foreign company on record.
Investor demand has been strong, with orders exceeding seven times the number of shares available, according to Bloomberg. The offering attracted interest from global long-term investment funds, technology-focused investors, sovereign wealth funds and international investors specializing in Asian markets.
Investment firms including Baillie Gifford, Coatue Management and Situational Awareness have indicated interest in investing as much as $7 billion combined, according to people familiar with the matter.
The listing comes as demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure accelerates globally. SK Hynix has emerged as a key supplier of high-bandwidth memory chips used in advanced AI systems, strengthening its position in the rapidly expanding semiconductor market.
