SK hynix issued a statement on controversy over a potential dual listing tied to the use of capital at Solidigm. SK hynix said on Wednesday that the method of raising funds for investment in Solidigm has not been decided and that the benchmark for all decisions is the long-term value of existing shareholders. Recently, concerns in the industry said a dual listing structure in which a parent and its subsidiary are listed together could undermine shareholder value. The company said it had previously disclosed that it was reviewing multiple options to strengthen competitiveness but nothing had been finalised, adding that this remains the case.

Solidigm’s capital use should be determined by also considering SK hynix’s overall investment plans, financial position and capital allocation, it said. SK hynix launched Solidigm after acquiring Intel’s NAND flash and SSD business. It currently operates its business centred on eSSDs, large-capacity enterprise storage devices for AI data centres. The company said it continues to review investment needs to secure production capacity and technology as market demand has recently grown.

SK hynix said it has financial capacity and is reviewing various options, including using its own funds. It said having funds does not mean that making every investment with internal funds is the best approach. The company said it allocates resources by reviewing investment demand across businesses including HBM, high-performance memory made by stacking multiple memory layers, server DRAM and eSSDs. It cited that memory is a capital-intensive industry where competitiveness depends on the industry cycle and the timing of investment.

SK hynix said it will decide whether to use internal funds or external capital based on an overall assessment of market conditions, the timing of investment and its financial position. It said the benchmark for its decision is clear. It will sufficiently examine how the use of external capital affects the economic value of existing shareholders compared with using its own funds. It said it will also consider the effects of capital use and how funding affects its finances, adding it will use these factors as key criteria regardless of which option it reviews.

SK hynix said it believes uncertainty is too high at this stage to make definitive statements about the impact. Once it reaches a stage of reviewing specific options, it said it will closely examine financial and business impacts at the board level. It also plans to fully comply with relevant regulations and procedures. It said it will review the impact on existing shareholders and any necessary shareholder protection measures and provide sufficient explanation.