Kioxia, the world's third-largest NAND manufacturer after Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, is seeing its corporate value surge amid booming NAND demand. SK Hynix, which made a major investment in Kioxia, has seen its stake value rise by more than 13 trillion won during this market upturn.
According to industry sources on June 3, Kioxia shares traded at 20,795 yen (approximately 194,397 won) on the Japanese stock market as of 2 p.m. The company's market capitalization reached 11.3048 trillion yen (approximately 105.29 trillion won).
Kioxia's stock price has risen 14-fold from its IPO price of 1,455 yen at the end of 2024, and has doubled this year alone as NAND demand began its full recovery. On May 13, following its earnings announcement, shares hit an intraday high of 24,420 yen (approximately 227,423 won).
Kioxia spun off from Toshiba's memory semiconductor division in 2018 and ranks third globally in NAND production. According to market research firm TrendForce, Kioxia held a 15.3% global market share in the third quarter of last year. The company continues to strengthen its NAND business, partnering with Nvidia to develop next-generation SSDs that are up to 100 times faster than conventional solid-state drives, with a target launch next year.
SK Hynix's stake value in Kioxia is estimated to have risen substantially. In 2018, SK Hynix joined a consortium led by global investment firm Bain Capital, investing a total of 395 billion yen (approximately 3.68 trillion won) in Kioxia. Specifically, SK Hynix acquired 129 billion yen (approximately 1.2 trillion won) worth of convertible bonds that can be converted into a 14.4% stake in Kioxia, and separately invested 266 billion yen (approximately 2.48 trillion won) as a limited partner in the fund.
The convertible bonds' stake value is estimated at approximately 1.6279 trillion yen (approximately 15.16 trillion won), calculated by multiplying the current market capitalization (11.3048 trillion yen) by the convertible stake percentage. Excluding the original investment of 129 billion yen, this represents a value increase of approximately 1.4989 trillion yen (approximately 13.96 trillion won).
Regarding the fund investment, SK Hynix reportedly held 19% of Bain Capital consortium's total 56% stake in 2018, equivalent to approximately 10% of Kioxia. As Bain Capital has recently sold portions of its holdings in succession, the consortium's total stake has changed, making it difficult to calculate SK Hynix's precise current shareholding.
However, industry sources explain that combining already realized gains with the remaining stake estimated at several percentage points could yield investment returns worth several trillion won, excluding the original investment of 266 billion yen.
Bain Capital sold 39 million Kioxia shares representing a 7% stake for $3.5 billion in two transactions on May 17 and 19. Its stake decreased from 44% to 37%.
"The consortium's profit distribution structure is set up in a contractually complex manner," an industry source said. "However, with Kioxia's market capitalization rising to the 11 trillion yen level, SK Hynix is expected to generate investment returns worth several trillion won."