Chipmaker Kioxia Makes Solid Stock Market Debut

Tokyo, Dec. 18 (Jiji Press)--Japanese chipmaker Kioxia Holdings Corp. made a solid debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday in this year's second-largest initial public offering in Japan after Tokyo Metro Co.'s listing in October.

Kioxia fetched a first quotation of 1,440 yen on the TSE's top-tier Prime section. Although this was below the IPO price of 1,455 yen, the stock attracted buying in the afternoon to close at 1,601 yen, sending its market capitalization to around 863 billion yen.

Still, its market capitalization fell far short of the 1.5 trillion yen it had targeted when it applied in August for the stock listing.

"We don't know how things will go, but we are relieved for now," President Nobuo Hayasaka told a press conference in Tokyo. "We are confident about our technical prowess and competitiveness, and we will work to further raise our corporate value."

Chipmakers need to make massive capital investments every few years. The listing is part of Kioxia's efforts to diversify its capital procurement methods.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]