SK Hynix halted its review of a Solidigm fundraising round and subsequent US IPO on 23 October, citing overall capital-market conditions.
The decision removes a possible source of billions of dollars for Solidigm’s expansion, including a potential US factory, but SK Hynix said its plans for the unit remain intact. It also follows scrutiny in South Korea over whether another listing would complicate ownership and shareholder protections.
In plain terms, a pre-IPO round would have raised money from investors before a public share sale. The IPO would then have offered Solidigm shares to public investors, giving the unit and its parent access to outside capital for expansion.
SK Hynix said the listing had been considered to help pay for a new US factory, meet rising demand from AI data centres, and fund share cancellations and buybacks. The IPO could also have strengthened consolidated cash flow, giving it more flexibility for facilities, dividends and other shareholder returns.
The reported deal estimates differed
One reported estimate
Pre-IPO fundraising
US$10 billion
- Valuation of up to US$100 billion
- Banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley were selected
Other reported estimates
Potential US offering
US$15 billion
- Valuation of up to US$150 billion
- Solidigm had explored a listing as early as next year
Reports said the figures varied. One account said Solidigm was seeking about US$10 billion and could have been valued at as much as US$100 billion. Other reports put the possible fundraising at about US$15 billion and the valuation at up to US$150 billion.
Solidigm’s financial performance had made it a potential candidate for a large offering. During the first half, its revenue came to 12.25 trillion won ($9.2 billion), a 3.7-fold increase from a year earlier. Net income rose 44.2-fold to 5.84 trillion won.
Market conditions weakened the case for a listing
An SK hynix official said market volatility and a fall in semiconductor shares had made the proposed valuation harder to achieve.
Recent financial market volatility and a correction in semiconductor stocks made it increasingly difficult to secure the expected benefits, including an appropriate valuation
The company said the move reflected a reassessment of whether a public offering remained the best option for SK Hynix and existing shareholders. It had considered overall capital-market conditions before stopping both stages of the proposed transaction.
We have decided to halt its review of a pre-IPO fundraising round and a subsequent IPO after taking into account overall capital market conditions
The wider market had also turned less supportive of semiconductor and infrastructure transactions. SanDisk, a major US NAND producer, had fallen roughly 40 percent from its June peak. Other shelved deals included the IPO of Firmus in Australia, which Nvidia backed, and a Singapore REIT listing for AirTrunk, backed by Blackstone.
SK Hynix’s Seoul-listed shares had fallen about 60 percent from their June peak, amid concerns about slower memorychip demand and dilution. The company’s market value stood at about US$679 billion, about half its June peak.
Ownership and regulation added pressure
Solidigm was formed after SK Hynix bought Intel’s NAND and SSD business in 2021. The transaction also brought an Intel manufacturing facility in Dalian, China into the business.
Solidigm is estimated to represent about 12.9 percent of SK Hynix’s corporate value. Public trading already covers SK Inc., SK Square and SK Hynix, whereas Solidigm sits below SK Hynix’s US-based AI Company. Listing Solidigm would have raised the count of public companies in the five-tier ownership structure to four.
A regulatory dispute then arose in South Korea. Lee Chan-jin, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, said the proposed US listing would come under the country’s duplicate-listing guidelines. SK Hynix’s position was that regulatory pressure was not the direct reason it stopped the review.
The Korea Corporate Governance Forum welcomed the decision. It said SK Hynix could inject capital through its AI Company even if Solidigm needed tens of trillions of won in capital expenditure.
Ryan Albert, founder and managing member of Terton Capital, described the decision as a positive development for South Korean corporate governance.
a major positive for [South] Korean corporate governance
Albert said shareholders, governance groups and the regulator had all focused on the tension between the group retaining control of Solidigm and the interests of other shareholders.
Shareholders, governance groups and the regulator all weighed in, identifying the core conflict of the group keeping control of Solidigm
A related dispute emerged this week at South Korean auto parts maker Myoung Shin Industrial. Its board opposed a proposed US listing of a subsidiary while it reviewed shareholder-protection measures. The company’s shares then jumped 18 percent.
Shin Yoon-chul, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said other South Korean companies considering similar ownership structures could face closer scrutiny.
Expansion options remain open
SK Hynix said stopping the IPO did not mean Solidigm’s prospects or its need for investment had weakened.
This decision does not reflect any change in Solidigm's growth prospects or investment needs
It also said expanding production and improving competitiveness remained priorities.
Expanding Solidigm's production capacity and strengthening its competitiveness remain important priorities
Solidigm has reportedly examined a NAND fabrication plant near Utica, New York. The company called that report speculative but said it regularly assessed strategic alternatives. It is not known whether a plant near Utica will be built.
SK Hynix has also reportedly held preliminary discussions with Intel about producing memory chips at Intel’s planned Ohio facility, potentially through a lease or joint venture. No agreement, lease or joint venture has been finalised.
- 2021Solidigm is created
SK Hynix acquires Intel’s NAND and SSD business and inherits a manufacturing facility in Dalian, China.
- 23 October 2026IPO review is halted
SK Hynix stops reviewing the pre-IPO fundraising round and subsequent US listing.
- After the haltFunding options remain under review
The company continues considering the timing, scale and financing of future Solidigm investments.
The Korea Herald reported that possible alternatives include internal cash generation, bank loans and corporate bonds. Partnerships could also spread investment costs and risks. The terms of any such financing have not been decided.
The company had previously weighed direct investment alongside outside capital raised through an IPO. It now plans to review other ways to fund Solidigm’s expansion and increase shareholder value.
The US expansion question also sits within wider talks between South Korea and Washington. South Korean authorities said they were discussing semiconductor investment in the United States with Washington as part of broader bilateral negotiations, but those talks were separate from negotiations over a US$350 billion investment commitment made in 2025 in exchange for lower US tariffs.
Sources said SK Hynix had sought to use the prospect of a US factory in discussions about possible approval from Washington to export US chipmaking equipment to China and increase production there. The US administration’s response to the cancelled listing was not immediately clear, while the Trump administration had been pressing foreign chipmakers to build new facilities in the United States.
SK Hynix said it would continue examining how to finance Solidigm’s expansion. The final financing method and the timing and scale of future investment remain undecided.
