According to a Reuters report citing sources, Kioxia, backed by Bain Capital, is expected to secure listing approval from the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday. The company’s IPO is projected to have a market value of around JPY 750 billion (approximately USD 4.84 billion), based on the indicative price.
The report notes that the market value could change depending on the final IPO price. Meanwhile, Kioxia, Bain, and the Tokyo Stock Exchange declined to comment on this information.
In August, Kioxia filed for a Tokyo Stock Exchange listing with plans for an October IPO. However, amid a slow recovery in the memory chip market, investors pushed major shareholder Bain Capital to halve the valuation target, leading Bain to postpone the IPO at that time, according to a previous Reuters report.
According to a previous report by Nikkei, Kioxia’s valuation was expected to exceed JPY 1.5 trillion (roughly USD 10.3 billion) previously. The valuation is nearly halved by now.
Following the delay, Kioxia adopted Japan’s newly introduced IPO application process to expedite procedural timelines, eyeing for an IPO within the period from December 2024 to June 2025. The Reuters report notes that Kioxia is the first company to leverage this process, which permits firms to file a registration statement and communicate with investors prior to securing listing approval.
According to the report, going public would provide Kioxia with additional fundraising opportunities in the capital-intensive memory chip industry, but it would also bring greater scrutiny to the company’s financials.
The report states that shareholders, including Bain Capital, plan to sell shares in the IPO. The joint global coordinators managing the IPO are Morgan Stanley, Nomura, and BofA Securities.
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(Photo credit: Kioxia)