SK Hynix's Solidigm Picks Goldman, Morgan Stanley to Lead US IPO at Up to $100 Billion Valuation, Bloomberg Reports

Solidigm, the NAND flash unit of SK Hynix, has selected Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to lead a US initial public offering planned for next year, Bloomberg reported, with JPMorgan, Citigroup and UBS also joining the syndicate. The deal could value Solidigm at up to $100 billion and raise around $10 billion; the $100 billion figure is a valuation, not the size of the offering. SK Hynix said no specific plans have been finalized. Solidigm is also working on a pre-IPO funding round with the two lead banks.

The plan is not without friction at home. Korean coverage has argued that listing Solidigm would add another layer to SK Group's stacked listing structure and dilute the value that SK Hynix shareholders capture from the unit. Earlier reports had floated a valuation as high as $150 billion, so the latest figure is lower.

The timing coincides with a shift in support for Korean chip stocks. SK Hynix's 40 trillion won share buyback is nearly complete and Samsung's 15 trillion won program ended this week, while foreign investors sold a net 21.5 trillion won of Kospi shares in September. SK Hynix listed American depositary shares on Nasdaq under the ticker SKHY in July, and a post-listing lockup is set to expire around now. Separately, the company announced an AI-focused environmental research institute aimed at the green transition of Korea's chip supply chain.

Watch for a formal filing, the size and valuation of the pre-IPO round, and whether SK Hynix lays out how it will keep value with its own shareholders. For the NAND market, a public Solidigm would give investors a direct read on enterprise SSD demand from AI data centers.