Kioxia undergoes shareholder reshuffle: SK Hynix may become the actual second largest shareholder

Odaily reported that the US investment fund Bain Capital is expected to earn approximately 2.5 trillion yen (about 22 trillion won) in investment gains through the sale of most of its shares in Japanese memory chip company Kioxia, setting one of the highest return records for private equity investment (PE) cases in Japan.

With Bain Capital's exit, Toshiba has again become the largest shareholder of Kioxia, holding around 15%. SK hynix, through convertible bonds held by a special purpose company (SPC), becomes the de facto second largest shareholder, holding about 14%. However, since SK hynix has not yet converted the bonds into stocks, it currently does not have formal voting rights as a shareholder and must wait for antitrust reviews by various countries before completing the conversion in the future.

Previously, SK hynix invested about 395 billion yen in the related SPC through convertible bonds and pledged not to hold more than 15% of Kioxia's voting rights before 2028. The market is watching as the global competition in memory chips intensifies, and Kioxia’s complex ownership structure, along with potential changes in SK hynix’s stake, will become key variables in Japan’s semiconductor industry strategic planning. (Daum)