"Stock price barely recovered"... SK Hynix '5-tier duplicate listing' controversy, retail investors 'anxious'

Input: 2026-08-14 14:19:00

Updated: 2026-08-14 14:19:00

Key executives, including SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and SK Hynix CEO Kwak No-jung, are posing for a commemorative photo in front of the NASDAQ Tower in Times Square, New York, on the 10th of last month (local time).

From left: SK Square Senior Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won, SK Hynix CEO Kwak No-jung, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, SK Hynix Outside Director and Chairman of the Board Koh Seung-bum, and SK Inc. Americas Executive Vice Chairman Yoo Jung-joon.

(Photo courtesy of SK Hynix) [Financial News] As it has become known that SK Hynix is considering spinning off its U. S.

subsidiary Solidigm to list on the NASDAQ, criticism regarding duplicate listings and the damage to shareholder value is intensifying in the capital market. Analysis suggests that the anxiety of existing shareholders is negatively impacting the stock price of SK Hynix, which has earned recognition for its technological prowess by supplying High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) to Nvidia, as the company becomes embroiled in governance risks and controversy over "splitting listings.

" Governance Forum: "An Act of Exporting the 'Korea Discount' Overseas" The Korea Corporate Governance Forum released a commentary on the 13th, directly targeting SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and SK Hynix Board Chairman Koh Seung-bum. The Forum strongly criticized the move, stating, "We are ashamed, Chairman Chey Tae-won," and asserting that "strengthening the governance structure through overseas subsidiaries to circumvent the three-tier restriction under the domestic Fair Trade Act is an act of exporting the 'Korea Discount' (undervaluation of the Korean stock market) abroad.

" According to the Governance Forum's analysis, this duplicate listing involves a staggering five-tier structure extending from Chairman Chey Tae-won → SK Inc. → SK Square → SK Hynix → SK Hynix NAND Product Solutions → Solidigm.

The Forum pointed out that "there are no cases among major global semiconductor companies, such as Nvidia or Taiwan's TSMC, that pursue duplicate subsidiary listings," and urged Chairman Chey to "ask Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang why Nvidia does not have duplicate subsidiary listings," emphasizing that resolving the existing three-tier domestic duplicate listing is more urgent than expanding the governance structure through overseas subsidiaries. Furthermore, SK Telecom ($480 million), SK Inc.

($250 million), Regarding the 'capital call' structure in which SK Innovation ($380 million) and others have agreed to invest in Solidigm's parent company, criticism was raised that the achievements of SK Hynix are being distributed among affiliates where Chairman Chey holds a high stake, potentially leading to a transfer of wealth from SK Hynix's general shareholders to SK Holdings. With 88 trillion won in cash stockpiled.

Why raise funds? Experts unanimously agree that SK Hynix's push for the listing of Solidigm is not solely for the purpose of securing investment funds. 5426 trillion won; as of the end of the second quarter, cash equivalents alone amounted to 88 trillion won.

Total borrowings have actually decreased as well. Analysts suggest that the limitations of the group's top-tier governance structure lie behind the consideration of a listing despite the company's robust financial condition.

SK Hynix's largest shareholder is SK Square, which holds a 20% stake, creating a structure where the massive cash generated by SK Hynix is not directly transferred to SK Inc. , the top tier of the group, or the controlling shareholder.

Lee Young-gon, Head of Research at Toss Securities, explained, "The decision to separate SK Hynix's business units and involve affiliate capital appears to be an intention to reshape the cash flow structure in a way that favors the controlling shareholder. " The reason SK Hynix is severely undervalued in the market, with its 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio (PER) hovering around 3 times, is also due to the reflection of "governance distrust" and "key man risk" stemming from the belief that massive free cash flow (FCF) will not properly return to general shareholders.

"Differentiation in stock price movements. "Measures to prevent shareholder losses must take precedence.

" In fact, the market reaction was cold after news of Solidigm's planned IPO became known. 9%, showing a contrasting trend.

This reflects concerns that if Solidyme goes public, the benefits of business performance will be dispersed among external shareholders, diluting the value of existing SK Hynix shareholders. However, positive aspects are also mentioned regarding the industrial structure.

It is pointed out that Solidyme, having acquired Intel's NAND and SSD businesses, could strengthen its global dominance in both HBM and NAND flash by raising funds through a NASDAQ listing and expanding local production and operations in the U. S.

Nevertheless, market experts emphasize that clear measures to prevent damage to existing shareholders resulting from corporate value dilution must be established first.

Meanwhile, SK Hynix plans to re-disclose its position regarding Solidyme's listing at the end of this month or the beginning of next month.

[email protected] Moon Young-jin Reporter

· This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.

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