SK Hynix raises US$1.7 billion convertible bond amid chip glut
SOUTH Korea’s SK Hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker, has raised US$1.7 billion in a convertible bond deal that comes as chipmakers’ profits suffer due to a global semiconductor glut driven by an economic slowdown.
The money will be used for operational funds such as buying chip production materials, SK Hynix said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday (Apr 4). It earmarked 20.1 million Treasury shares, or a 2.8 per cent stake, for possible conversion.
The bonds, to be listed in Singapore, have a coupon of 1.75 per cent a year and will mature in 2030, according to a separate term sheet seen by Reuters.
SK Hynix’s deal was the largest convertible bond in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, in a year, according to Refinitiv data.
The company originally planned to raise up to US$1.5 billion but the size was increased to US$1.7 billion while the book building was underway because of high demand, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorised to speak publicly.
Demand for the bonds was four times the amount on sale and investor appetite was not dented by recent global financial market volatility, the person added.
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SK Hynix did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the demand.
Shares in SK Hynix fell as much as 4 per cent in Tuesday trade, while the wider market rose 0.4 per cent as of 0238 GMT.
SK Hynix posted a record quarterly operating loss of 1.7 trillion won (S$1.72 billion) in the September-December quarter.
Analysts forecast a much worse loss in the quarter that ended Mar 31 before an expected memory chip industry rebound in the second half of the year.
“This financing is expected to end market concerns about a short-term liquidity crunch,” Kim Kwang-jin, an analyst at Hanwha Investment & Securities, wrote in a note on Tuesday. REUTERS
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