Chipmaker Kokusai, spun off from Hitachi, goes public

Trading in shares of Japanese chip manufacturing company Kokusai Electric Corp., owned by a US fund. The Tokyo Stock Exchange began on October 25, Kyodo News reported.

The company was previously part of the Japanese giant Hitachi Ltd. and is owned by the American private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., which acquired Kokusai in 2018. The production specializes in the production of films for silicon wafers.

The company has a production base in Toyama Prefecture and a plant under construction in central Japan.

In addition to the American fund, the company’s shareholders include the Qatar Investment Authority, which bought about 5% of the shares in June 2023. The fund explained the purchase of shares by the fact that the Microelectronics is experiencing rapid growth, combined with increased demand from various industries.

During the first day of trading, the share price increased by 15%: from 2,116 yen (1,320 rubles) to 2,321 yen (1,448 rubles). At the same time, the initial market capitalization of the company’s shares at the time of its listing was 424 billion yen (265 billion rubles) with a base share price of 1,840 yen (1,153 rubles). and increased to 487 billion yen (304 billion rubles).

Kyodo quoted Toshikazu Horiuchi, stock strategist at IwaiCosmo Securities, as saying that the stock market performance may be due to the influence of Western countries trying to reduce their dependence on China in the industry. He believes this push has the potential to spur domestic chip production and expand the company’s business.

Source: Rossa Primavera