SK Hynix $28 billion U.S. ADR Offering
SK Hynix Inc. (KS:000660) announced a U.S. listing of American depositary receipts (ADRs) valued at approximately $28 billion. The company began marketing 177.9 million ADRs on Monday; each ADR represents one‑tenth of a common share, meaning the sale corresponds to roughly 2.5 % of SK Hynix’s market capitalisation, which has more than tripled during the current year on the back of heightened demand for high‑bandwidth memory chips used in artificial‑intelligence servers.
Demand for the offering has been described as “robust,” with Bloomberg reporting that investor interest is several times the number of shares on offer. Approximately 1,000 institutional investors attended the management roadshow earlier in the week, and the primary sources of demand are global long‑only funds and technology‑focused investors.
The ADRs are slated to be priced on Thursday, with trading to commence on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on Friday. The underwriting syndicate is led by Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.
Restrictions on converting Seoul‑listed shares into ADRs may limit arbitrage opportunities, potentially allowing the U.S.–listed shares to trade at a premium to the domestic shares.
In Seoul trading, SK Hynix shares fell nearly 3 % following the announcement, underperforming the broader KOSPI index, which declined by more than 5 % on the same day.