Kioxia Shares Rise in Trading Debut After $800 Million IPO
The company’s debut follows several large public offerings in Japan this fall
Kioxia Holdings’ shares rose in their trading debut following a $800 million initial public offering, as the memory-chip maker seeks to raise capital to meet growing demand for chips used in artificial intelligence and data centers.
Shares were recently at 1,522 yen, equivalent to $9.92, or 4.6% higher than the offering price. Shares briefly rose as much as 6.7% earlier Wednesday after opening 1.0% lower.
The Japanese chip maker issued new shares while two of its largest shareholders—Bain Capital and Toshiba Corp.—sold part of their stakes.
Kioxia makes NAND flash-memory chips used in smartphones, computer servers and other devices. The company expects growth in the flash-memory market, driven by demand for AI applications and data centers.
Formerly part of Toshiba and known as Toshiba Memory, Kioxia was acquired in 2018 by a group led by Bain Capital for around $18 billion. Toshiba retained a 40% stake in the chip business, which was renamed Kioxia the following year.
Kioxia’s debut follows several large public offerings in Japan this fall and comes after the market benchmark Nikkei Stock Average climbed to record highs earlier this year, driven by stronger corporate earnings and a weak yen.
In October, Tokyo Metro raised about $2.31 billion in Japan’s biggest IPO in nearly six years, while Carlyle Group-backed Rigaku Holdings raised about $850 million that same month.