News
SK Hynix divests Kioxia stake to fund KRW 100 trillion AI memory expansion
Monday, March 2, 2026 at 10:42 PM
SK Hynix is liquidating its investment in Kioxia to fund massive capital expenditures, including a KRW 21.6 trillion investment in the Yongin Phase 1 fab. The company recovered KRW 951 billion from asset disposals last year through a Bain Capital-led vehicle. These divestments come as SK Hynix prepares for a total investment cycle exceeding KRW 100 trillion to meet AI-driven demand for HBM and enterprise SSDs.
Context
SK Hynix has initiated a strategic divestment of its stake in Kioxia Holdings, recovering KRW 951 billion as of late last year. This liquidation follows a surge in Kioxia’s valuation—up over 500%—driven by the rapid adoption of enterprise SSDs in AI data centers. With SK Hynix’s remaining interest now estimated at over KRW 25 trillion, the company is expected to continue selling shares throughout 2025 to unlock significant liquidity from its long-term investment portfolio.
This capital recycling is critical to fund SK Hynix’s aggressive KRW 100 trillion-plus AI memory expansion, including the KRW 21.6 trillion Yongin Phase 1 fab. By securing these funds, the company aims to maintain its leadership in HBM while preparing for Nvidia’s proposed ICMS architecture, which integrates NAND into next-generation AI inference systems. This transition from passive investor to active infrastructure leader allows the company to preemptively scale capacity ahead of a projected global memory shortage.
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