According to a report from MoneyDJ, Japan’s major NAND Flash manufacturer Kioxia plans to go public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by June 2025, leveraging Japan’s newly introduced IPO application process to shorten procedural timelines.

According to the report, Kioxia aims for an IPO within the period from December 2024 to June 2025, using the “S-1 Method” introduced in October 2023 to expedite the listing process. Depending on market conditions, the company is also exploring the possibility of listing as early as December 2024.

The report indicates that Kioxia plans to submit its securities registration statement to the Financial Services Agency on November 8th, targeting a market valuation exceeding JPY 1 trillion (USD 6.5 billion).

According to the report, Japan’s traditional IPO process requires companies to get Tokyo Stock Exchange approval, then file a securities registration statement with the Financial Services Agency before setting an offering price with investors. The new “S-1 Method” allows filing and investor discussions to start before approval, cutting the time to public offering from about a month to 10 days.

According to a report in the Reuters, Kioxia is the first company to use the new rules permitting firms to gauge investor interest prior to seeking listing approval from the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The Reuters report indicates that Kioxia anticipates receiving approval from the bourse in late November, with an indicative share price to be revealed around that time.

The report in MoneyDJ mentioned that previously, Kioxia had filed for listing with the Tokyo Stock Exchange in August, with plans to go public in October. However, due to a downturn in the semiconductor market and inability to secure favorable valuations, the IPO was postponed.

According to MoneyDJ, referencing another report from Reuters, the slow recovery in the memory chip market has led investors to urge Kioxia’s major shareholder, U.S. investment firm Bain Capital, to cut the company’s IPO valuation target from JPY 1.5 trillion to nearly half that amount. This investor pressure caused Bain to drop plans for an October IPO.

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• [News] Kioxia Projects NAND Demand to Triple by 2028 as It Gears up for Expansion amid AI Boom
• [News] Why Is Kioxia Delaying Its IPO? Market Valuation Reportedly Half of Target

(Photo credit: Kioxia)

Japanese NAND flash memory giant Kioxia had reportedly planned to delay its October IPO. According to the latest report from Reuters, Kioxia’s major shareholder, U.S. investment firm Bain Capital, abandoned the October IPO plan after investors valued the company at only half of its target.

Reuters reported on the 11th that sources familiar with the matter said investors, citing the slow recovery of the semiconductor market, requested Bain Capital to slash Kioxia’s IPO valuation (market cap at the time of listing) to around half of the target value. This led Bain to abandon the plan to list Kioxia at the end of October.

The report cited two sources stating that while Bain Capital had set a target valuation of 1.5 trillion yen, investors valued the company at around 800 billion yen, far below the initial goal. One source added that during discussions with institutional investors in August and September, most agreed that the memory market still needed time to fully recover.

Although Bain Capital and Kioxia will continue to seek an opportune moment for the IPO, most market insiders believe that listing within this year will be challenging.

When the delay in Kioxia’s IPO was first reported in late September, TrendForce noted that the NAND flash market began to show signs of a price reversal in the third quarter of 2024 after three consecutive quarters of profit recovery.

Along with weak consumer demand, some companies have also slowed down their AI server deployments, potentially leading to an oversupply. With investors expressing concerns about the industry’s outlook, Kioxia’s decision to go public at this time may not yield a favorable valuation. The company has therefore opted to strategically delay the IPO, waiting for a market recovery.

According to TrendForce data, Kioxia maintained its position as the third-largest NAND flash brand by revenue in Q2, with a market share of 13.8%. Samsung led the market with 36.9%, followed by SK Group at 22.1%.

(Photo credit: Kioxia)

On September 30, according to an announcement on the China Securities Regulatory Commission’s website, Wuhan Xinxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (XMC) has had its IPO application for the STAR Market officially accepted, marking the official start of its listing process.

According to a report by ICsmart, both Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) and XMC are subsidiaries of the holding company Yangtze Memory Technologies Group.

ICsmart reports that XMC, founded in 2006, is a semiconductor manufacturer focused on NOR Flash memory chips and operates the first 12-inch semiconductor production line in Central China. By the end of 2017, XMC had shipped over 750,000 NOR Flash wafers, covering markets ranging from consumer electronics to industrial and automotive-grade applications, and that year achieved profitability. In 2020, XMC announced full-scale mass production of its self-developed 50nm SPI NOR Flash products.

According to information from XMC’s official website, the company currently offers 12-inch NOR Flash, CIS, and Logic wafer foundry services, with process nodes of 40nm and above.

ICsmart also notes that YMTC, the largest NAND Flash manufacturer in China, successfully developed China’s first 3D NAND flashy in October 2017 through a combination of independent R&D and international collaboration. In 2019, YMTC began mass production of 64-layer 3D NAND based on its Xtacking architecture. By April 2020, YMTC announced the successful development of 128-layer 3D NAND, with its X2-6070 model being the first third-generation QLC flash, boasting the industry’s highest I/O speed, storage density, and single-chip capacity at the time of its release.

In 2022, YMTC was reported to have entered Apple’s iPhone supply chain, providing NAND for the iPhone SE3. However, later that year, the U.S. imposed stricter export controls on Chinese semiconductors, adding YMTC to the Entity List, which has impacted the company’s development.

(Photo credit: XMC)

A month ago, Kioxia has reportedly submitted its initial public offering (IPO) application to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. However, as the memory market recently seems to be on a roller coaster ride, the latest report by Reuters notes that the Japanese memory chip maker has decided to cancel its plan to be listed in October.

Citing reports by Japanese media, another report by MoneyDJ indicates that Kioxia’s IPO is expected to be delayed until November or later.

Reuters points out that Kioxia has been aiming for a market valuation of JPY 1.5 trillion (roughly USD 10.39 billion). Nevertheless, the recent decline in shares of other listed memory companies, including Samsung, SK hynix and Micron, has made this target difficult to achieve.

According to Reuters, Bain Capital, which holds a 56% stake in Kioxia along with SK hynix, declined to comment. Kioxia, on the other hand, responded by saying that it is preparing to go public when the timing is right.

This is not the first time Kioxia abandoned its IPO plan. The memory giant had previously scheduled to be listed in 2020. However, due to continued market volatility and ongoing concerns about a second wave of COVID-19, the company gave up the plan in September, 2020.

A few days ago, Japan’s Tokyo Metro initiated the processes to launch its IPO next month. According to The Japan Times, Tokyo Metro aims to raise USD 2.25 billion, marking the country’s largest IPO in six years. Should Kioxia stick to its plan to kick off the IPO by 2024, the deal were to become the largest one of the year.

According to TrendForce, in the NAND Flash market, Kioxia ranked third in revenue in the second quarter of 2024, with a 13.8% market share, after Samsung (36.9%) and SK Group (22.1%).

Read more

• [News] Kioxia’s IPO Paves the Way for SK Hynix to Secure Funds for HBM Investment
• [News] Kioxia Filed for Listing, Reportedly Marking Japan’s Largest IPO of the Year

(Photo credit: Kioxia)

Kioxia has moved forward with its plans to go public, starting the process on August 23. This development follows Bain Capital, a U.S. private equity firm with a majority stake in Kioxia, submitting an application for the listing to the Tokyo Stock Exchange on the same day, according to Nikkei.

Kioxia, formerly Toshiba Memory Corporation, was spun off from Toshiba in 2018 and rebranded. Bain Capital spearheads a special purpose company that, along with South Korea’s SK Hynix, holds a 56% stake in Kioxia Holdings, making it the largest shareholder. Toshiba retains a 41% stake.

SK Hynix first invested in Kioxia in 2018, committing a total of 4 trillion won (around $2.9 billion). This investment was split between 2.7 trillion won into a private equity fund led by Bain Capital and 1.3 trillion won to acquire Kioxia convertible bonds issued by Toshiba. However, the latest report from Korean media BusinessKorea highlights that SK Hynix has faced difficulties recovering its investment due to Kioxia’s delayed IPO, failed merger attempts, and a weak semiconductor market.

Kioxia had planned to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2020, but escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China led to a postponement. In 2023, Kioxia attempted to merge with Western Digital’s memory division to better compete with Samsung Electronics in the NAND flash market, but the effort was blocked by SK Hynix.

Despite these challenges, Kioxia posted a net profit of 69.8 billion yen in the second quarter of this year, its highest second-quarter earnings, as demand for memory in smartphones and PCs bottomed out. With signs of a semiconductor market recovery, Kioxia is pushing for a re-listing to enhance its financial flexibility.

According to Nikkei, after the listing, Bain Capital and Toshiba are expected to gradually reduce their stakes through share sales. SK hynix is also likely to sell part of its stake to recover its investment while maintaining strategic ties with Kioxia and Toshiba.

BusinessKorea believes that should Kioxia achieve a high valuation and successfully go public later this year, SK Group could recover its investment, enabling SK Hynix to reinvest in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI applications.

(Photo credit: Kioxia)