Chipmaker Kioxia Drops October 2024 Listing Plan

Japanese chipmaker Kioxia Holdings Corp. has dropped its plan to list its shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in October, a move that was expected to be the largest initial public offering (IPO) on the Tokyo market this year, Kyodo News reported.

Kioxia is the world’s third-largest maker of NAND flash memory chips used in computers, smartphones, and other digital devices. I Photo: Kioxia

The chipmaker, originally spun off from Toshiba Corp.'s memory chip business, cited concerns about weak demand for its shares, making it difficult to achieve its market capitalization goal of 1.5 trillion yen ($10.4 billion), amid uncertainty over the memory chip market.

"We are preparing to list our shares when the timing is appropriate," a Kioxia spokesperson said, emphasizing that the company still plans to go public.

Kioxia, the world’s third-largest maker of NAND flash memory chips used in computers, smartphones, and other digital devices, submitted its listing application to the Tokyo Stock Exchange in August, with plans to go public in October.

The company aimed to raise funds through the IPO to boost its research and development to meet growing demand for chips, particularly for use in artificial intelligence (AI).

Toshiba sold its former chip-making subsidiary, Toshiba Memory Corp., now renamed Kioxia, to a consortium led by US private equity fund Bain Capital for about 2 trillion yen in 2018 as part of its restructuring, Mainichi Japan also reported.