Kokusai Electric, a chipmaking equipment manufacturer, announced its plans to go public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on October 25, 2023. The company’s listing is expected to be Japan’s largest initial public offering (IPO) in the past five years.
At an indicative price of 1,890 yen per share, Kokusai Electric will offer shares worth 111.2 billion yen ($749.88 million), resulting in a market value of 435.5 billion yen.
The company has also included an overallotment option in case of strong demand1. Kokusai Electric aims to utilize the capital raised from the IPO for research and development investments, taking advantage of the projected growth in the chipmaking equipment market.
Additionally, the IPO will provide an opportunity for partial exit to KKR, which acquired Hitachi’s electronic equipment unit in 2017.
Kokusai Electric specializes in manufacturing machines used for depositing thin films on silicon wafers. In 2019, KKR attempted to sell Kokusai Electric to Applied Materials for $3.5 billion but failed to obtain regulatory approval in China. Over the past three years, Applied Materials has acquired a 15% shareholding in Kokusai Electric.
The successful listing of Kokusai Electric would follow the high-profile initial public offering of SoftBank-owned chip designer Arm in New York, which sparked hopes for a wave of stock market launches.
In the fiscal year ending March, Kokusai Electric reported a 20% decline in operating profit compared to the previous year, amounting to 56 billion yen. However, sales remained relatively stable at 245.7 billion yen.