Key facts
- Kioxia Holdings became Japan's largest company by market capitalization in June.
- Bain Capital's Yuji Sugimoto led the 2018 acquisition of Kioxia from Toshiba.
- Sugimoto believes Kioxia required independence to achieve its current growth.
- Bain Capital plans to sell over $2 billion in Kioxia shares.
- Kioxia's stock fell sharply after the announcement of the share sale.
- The company anticipates record revenue and profit for the quarter ending December 31.
Kioxia Holdings, a memory chipmaker, has become the largest Japanese company by market capitalization, a significant transformation from its past as a unit of Toshiba. Yuji Sugimoto, the Bain Capital dealmaker who led the acquisition of the company from Toshiba in 2018, stated that Kioxia's independence was crucial for its growth and current market position.
Bain Capital acquired the memory-chip maker from Toshiba Corp. in 2018 for approximately $18 billion. The company was renamed Kioxia the following year and subsequently listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2024. Despite the planned sale of over $2 billion in shares by Bain Capital, the private equity firm will remain Kioxia's largest shareholder.
Following the announcement of Bain Capital's plan to sell a significant stake, Kioxia's shares experienced a sharp decline, falling 8.8% on Wednesday after an earlier drop of as much as 14%. Goldman Sachs is set to acquire 36 million shares, representing about 6.7% of the company, from a Bain Capital entity before selling them to other investors. Kioxia's stock has seen substantial gains this year, driven by optimism surrounding demand for artificial-intelligence applications, and the company has forecast record revenue and profit for the quarter ending December 31 due to higher selling prices and strong data center demand.