NAME: SK Hynix's $26.5 billion Nasdaq ADS offering
LAW FIRMS: Kim & Chang, Shin & Kim, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Paul Hastings
JURISDICTION: South Korea, United States
PRACTICE AREAS: Capital markets
INDUSTRY SECTORS: Technology and telecommunications
SK Hynix's $26.5 billion public offering and listing of American Depositary Shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market is our Deal of the Month for July.
Shin & Kim and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton are advising South Korea's SK Hynix on its $26.5 billion public offering and listing of 177.9 million American Depositary Shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, the largest-ever US IPO by an Asian issuer, surpassing Alibaba's $25 billion offering in 2014. SK Hynix, a key supplier of high-bandwidth memory chips for AI systems, plans to use proceeds to fund chip factories and chipmaking equipment in South Korea.
The offering represents the largest ADS listing in history and gives SK Hynix a market capitalisation exceeding $1 trillion, the third largest ever behind SpaceX and Saudi Aramco, cementing South Korea's standing as a critical force in the global AI semiconductor supply chain.
Shin & Kim and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton are advising SK Hynix. Shin & Kim's team was led by managing partner Jong-han Oh and partner Yong-jin Park, while Cleary's team was led by partners Jinduk Han, Adam Fleisher, Insoo Park and Shuangjun Wang. Kim & Chang and Paul Hastings are advising the underwriters, with the latter firm’s team led by corporate partners Iksoo Kim, Dong Chul Kim, Gil Savir and Brandon Bortner.
