South Korea’s SK Hynix aims to raise about US$1 billion in dollar deal: Report

South Korea’s SK Hynix, the world’s second-biggest memory chipmaker, aims to raise about US$1 billion in a dollar bond deal, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

SK Hynix said in a statement the issue amount will be determined at a later date according to market conditions.

The firm has appointed eight investment banks to work on the deal which could have three- and five-year tenors, according to a term sheet reviewed by Reuters.

SK Hynix reported combined operating losses of 8.1 trillion won (US$6.19 billion) during the first three quarters of 2023, driven by a prolonged slowdown in demand for commodity chips used in smartphones and computers.

However, the prices of memory chips are expected to recover this year after production cuts by chipmakers, while SK Hynix diverts resources to retain its lead in high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in generative AI.

In April, SK Hynix raised US$1.7 billion in a convertible bond that was the company’s first sale of its type in a decade.