SK Hynix's $26.5 billion U.S. share sale has become the largest initial offering by a foreign company in American history, surpassing Alibaba's 2014 record. The Korean memory-chip maker's Nasdaq debut highlights intense investor demand for artificial-intelligence infrastructure.
The company sold 177.9 million American depositary receipts at $149 each. The offering was priced at a 3% premium to its Seoul closing price and was more than seven times oversubscribed, reflecting strong appetite for a security tied to an existing foreign stock.
U.S. investors accepted the premium for two main reasons. First, the Nasdaq listing provides easier access than purchasing shares directly in Seoul. Second, SK Hynix is a leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in Nvidia's AI accelerators, placing it at a critical point in the AI supply chain.
The company plans to use the proceeds for its first fabrication plant in the Yongin semiconductor cluster and to expand manufacturing capacity.
This listing occurs as the U.S. government aggressively pushes to expand advanced chip production domestically. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has warned that foreign memory manufacturers like SK Hynix could face a 100% tariff if they don't build in the U.S.
SK Hynix is balancing capital raises for Korean expansion against growing American pressure. The event underscores a strategic bottleneck: advanced memory is now so valuable that investors want exposure while governments seek control over its production location.