A potential US listing for SK hynix’s enterprise-storage subsidiary could raise up to $15bn for AI-related investment, while reigniting concerns over dilution and shareholder value.
SK hynix’s plan for a possible U.S. listing of Solidigm is drawing sharp reactions because it sits at the intersection of capital raising, group strategy and shareholder dilution. The American NAND flash subsidiary, which serves the fast-growing enterprise storage market, is being positioned by the market as a vehicle for funding the next phase of AI-related investment, even though SK hynix says no final decision has been made.
According to Bloomberg reports cited by several outlets, Solidigm has appointed Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as lead underwriters for a planned initial public offering in the United States, with JPMorgan, Citigroup and UBS also understood to have joined the syndicate. The same reports suggest the flotation could be one of the largest semiconductor listings on record, with some estimates placing the valuation as high as $100 billion to $150 billion and proceeds at roughly $10 billion to $15 billion, although the final terms remain fluid.
SK hynix has tried to dampen expectations. In a filing last month, the company said it was reviewing ways to strengthen Solidigm’s competitiveness but had not settled on any specific course. Even so, the subsidiary’s recent hiring of a former Qualcomm executive to handle government affairs, along with a contract with Ballard Partners, a lobbying firm with ties to Donald Trump, has fuelled market speculation that preparations for a U.S. listing are advancing.
Solidigm itself was created after SK hynix acquired Intel’s NAND flash memory business in 2021, and it now focuses on enterprise solid-state drives used in data centres and AI workloads. That positioning matters because demand for eSSDs has risen alongside investment in AI infrastructure, making storage hardware an increasingly important part of the semiconductor supply chain. The company has also been associated with very large-capacity drives aimed at hyperscale customers, reinforcing the case for a standalone capital market story.
The proposed listing has also reopened a broader debate in South Korea over cross-listings and shareholder value. Investors worry that if a business already embedded in SK hynix’s valuation is separately floated, the parent company’s share price could suffer. That concern is not abstract: after the first reports of a possible IPO in August, SK hynix shares fell more than 10% in a single day. Yet Bloomberg Intelligence has argued that the benefits could outweigh the governance risk, estimating that even a 10% external stake in Solidigm might reduce SK hynix’s earnings per share by only about 1%, while fresh funding could support more capacity, research and development, and investment in HBM and advanced packaging.
That potential upside matters because SK hynix is under pressure to keep spending heavily on AI memory and related infrastructure. The group has signalled that it needs substantial funding for HBM, advanced packaging and possible new NAND facilities in the United States, even as it seeks to concentrate resources on core businesses. In that context, a Solidigm IPO would fit a wider pattern of trying to raise capital in the United States, where the AI ecosystem is concentrated and where Korean chipmakers are increasingly looking for strategic financing options.
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