After Bain Capital's Exit, SK Hynix May Become Kioxia's Second Largest Shareholder, While Toshiba Regains Top Shareholder Position

BlockBeats News, July 26th. According to the Korean media Daum, the U.S. investment fund Bain Capital is expected to receive approximately ¥2.5 trillion in investment returns by selling most of its stake in the Japanese storage chip company Kioxia, setting one of the highest return records in Japanese private equity (PE) cases.

With Bain Capital's exit, Toshiba has once again become Kioxia's largest shareholder, holding approximately 15% of the shares. SK Hynix has become the de facto second-largest shareholder through convertible bonds held by a special purpose company (SPC), with a stake of about 14%. However, since SK Hynix has not yet converted the bonds into stocks, it currently does not have formal voting rights as a shareholder and will need to complete the conversion after passing antitrust reviews in various countries. SK Hynix had previously invested approximately ¥395 billion in relevant SPC through convertible bonds and committed not to hold more than 15% of Kioxia's voting rights until 2028. The market is watching closely as the intensifying global competition in the storage chip industry, Kioxia's complex ownership structure, and potential ownership changes by SK Hynix will become important variables in Japan's semiconductor industry strategic layout.