Bain Capital-backed chip manufacturer Kioxia has set a tentative price in the range of 1,390 to 1,520 yen ($9.22 to $10.09) per equity for its initial public offering (IPO) of shares.
The mentioned information is contained in a filing shown on Monday, December 2nd.
It is worth noting that the specified price range compares with an indicative price of 1,390 yen set in November. In this case, the market capitalization of the chip manufacturer will range from around 749 billion yen to 819 billion yen.
Bain scrapped plans for an IPO of Kioxia in October. The decision was made after investors sought a market capitalization of around 800 billion yen while the target was 1.5 trillion yen. This information was made public by the media.
The buyout company postponed a previous IPO plan for Kioxia four years ago.
As noted by the media, attempts by Bain to list the chip manufacturer are currently perceived as a kind of test case for buyout firms in Japan. It’s worth noting that the number of companies that sell non-core assets or become private is increasing in this country.
Going public will allow Kioxia to raise funds in the capital-intensive industry. At the same time, scrutiny of the company’s financial performance will grow.
A Bain-led consortium acquired the chip manufacturer from scandal-hit conglomerate Toshiba in 2018. The cost of this deal was 2 trillion yen.
The chipmaker is expected to make its debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on December 18.
It is worth noting that Tokyo has declared large-scale intentions to develop the homegrown microcircuits manufacturing sector. As part of the relevant efforts, Japan cooperates with foreign companies. For example, TSMC is building factories in this country.
