Lee Chan-jin: “Solidigm constitutes a duplicate listing; we will take appropriate measures”

[Financial News] Lee Chan-jin, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, said that plans to list Solidigm, SK hynix’s U.S. grandchild subsidiary, would constitute a duplicate listing. Speculation that Solidigm is pursuing a Nasdaq listing in the United States next year is gaining traction, fueling concerns that individual shareholders could be harmed and intensifying the controversy over duplicate listings. Securities market observers cite the planned Solidigm listing as a factor behind the recent sharp fall in SK hynix’s share price.
At a parliamentary audit held by the National Assembly’s National Policy Committee on the 19th, Lee Chan-jin responded to a question from People Power Party lawmaker Park Seong-hun about the controversy over Solidigm’s potential duplicate listing. “Both the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service consider (Solidigm) to constitute a duplicate listing,” he said.
Lee added that “the Financial Services Commission is waiting to obtain an authoritative interpretation on whether (Solidigm) is subject to domestic securities filing requirements,” and said, “We will take appropriate action wherever possible, to the fullest extent we can.”
With Lee stating that it constitutes a duplicate listing, Solidigm’s initial public offering (IPO) has hit a snag. That is because an IPO can, in principle, be prohibited if it constitutes a duplicate listing. The financial authorities recently drew up listing rules based on the principle of banning duplicate listings while allowing exceptions. However, overseas subsidiaries are generally not subject to the Korea Exchange’s review of duplicate listings. The financial authorities are therefore understood to be examining whether Solidigm falls within the scope of that review.
Solidigm was launched after SK hynix acquired Intel’s NAND flash and solid-state drive (SSD) business in 2021 for about $9 billion. Its revenue in the first half of this year was 12.25 trillion won, about 9% of SK hynix’s total revenue. Solidigm reportedly selected Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as lead underwriters on the 7th (local time). The company plans to raise $10 billion (about 13.3 trillion won) through the offering.
SK hynix said, “Nothing has been finalized,” but factors such as Solidigm’s recent hiring of a vice president to oversee government relations have fueled the listing rumors. As Solidigm recently stepped up preparations to list on the U.S. stock market, SK hynix’s share price plunged. Concerns persisted that a listing could erode value for shareholders of the parent company.
[email protected] Park Mun-su Reporter