Selling Kioxia shares could bring SK Hynix 40 trillion KRW in revenue

Glonghui July 27｜Meritz Securities of South Korea expects that, due to the sale of Kioxia shares in June combined with other investment-related gains, SK Hynix will add approximately 41.6 trillion won (about 190 billion yuan) in non-operating income in the second quarter of 2026, with pre-tax profit reaching 100 trillion won (about 460 billion yuan). In 2018, when Bain Capital led the acquisition of Toshiba Memory (later renamed Kioxia), SK Hynix used two SPCs (Special Purpose Companies, commonly used to isolate debt and legal risk) to purchase Kioxia's stocks and convertible bonds separately. With Bain having sold the last batch of Kioxia shares this year, Hynix has also fully cleared its holdings in the company's stock, earning nearly 40 trillion won, and only retains convertible bonds with a book value as high as 13.609 trillion won (as of March 2026). If conversion is completed in the future, it is estimated to correspond to about 14% equity in Kioxia. It is worth noting that SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won is currently undergoing divorce proceedings. As SK Hynix is the group's biggest "cash cow", there is a strong possibility it will increase its dividend payout.