ICHEON, South Korea, March 25 (Reuters) - South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix announced on Wednesday it made a confidential filing for a U.S. listing targeted for the second half of 2026, which a source said could raise as much as $14 billion.
SK Hynix plans to list about 2% to 3% of its total shares and hopes to use the funds to help finance its work in chip factories in South Korea's Yongin city and the U.S. state of Indiana, a person with direct knowledge of the discussions told Reuters.
The company, one of the world's largest makers of memory chips, has been expanding production capacity to keep up with strong demand for artificial intelligence data centres. Shares of SK Hynix were trading up 2.3% as of 0300 GMT, compared with benchmark KOSPI's 1.7% gain.
Confidential filings allow companies to withhold details about their finances and offering terms until closer to the actual listing.
A 2% to 3% share issue would equate to $9.6 billion-$14.4 billion of SK Hynix's market capitalisation, according to Reuters' calculations based on its Tuesday closing share price.
SK Hynix did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the fundraising size.
The company, in a domestic regulatory filing on Wednesday, said: "While we aim to complete the listing within 2026, specific details - such as the size, structure, and timeline of the offering - have not yet been finalized."
SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung said at the company's annual shareholder meeting that the U.S. listing plan could be described as part of efforts to have its corporate value reassessed in the United States, the world's largest equity market where major global semiconductor firms are listed.
Kwak added that the company aims to list in the United States in the second half of this year.
The Korea Economic Daily reported earlier this week that SK Hynix was considering raising 10 trillion to 15 trillion won through the issue of new shares in such a U.S. listing.
At the company's shareholder meeting, SK Hynix also said it aims to secure more than 100 trillion won in net cash to better respond to customer demand and stabilisebusiness operations, without providing a timeline, compared with 12.7 trillion won at the end of 2025.
The planned U.S. listing comes as SK Hynix ramps up investment to meet surging demand for artificial intelligence chips, while also navigating rising geopolitical risks and investor scrutiny over capital allocation.
In January, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation aimed at addressing national security concerns related to semiconductor imports, imposing a 25% tariff on certain artificial intelligence chips, including Nvidia's H200 AI processor and AMD's MI325X.
Separately, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said South Korean and Taiwanese chipmakers that are not investing in the United States could face tariffs of up to 100% unless they commit to expanding production on American soil.
CLAMOUR FOR SHARE BUYBACK
The Korea Corporate Governance Forum, an advocacy group that comprises investors and lawyers, said on Wednesday it opposes SK Hynix's potential issuance of new shares for the U.S. listing, saying the move would dilute the value of existing shares, and undermine Korea's revised legislation to protect the interests of all shareholders.
The forum said SK Hynix will be able to generate more than enough excess cashflow even after making capital expenditure and R&D investments during 2026-28, and urged the company to buy back 10% to 15% of its stock and use most of that for the U.S. listing.
"The decision was disappointing," said Kim Hyun-su, a fund manager at Seoul-based IBK Asset Management. "I don't understand why they have to issue new shares - they can probably pursue the listing using existing shares instead. If they conduct buybacks and then seek the U.S. listing, it would make everyone happy."
(Reporting by Cynthia Kim, Hyunjoo Jin, Jack Kim and Heejin Kim; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Muralikumar Anantharaman and Lincoln Feast.)
