TOKYO: The Tokyo Stock Exchange on Thursday approved the listing of major Japanese chipmaker Kioxia Holdings Corp. on Oct. 6.

The Tokyo-based company, previously the semiconductor business division of Japanese electronics giant Toshiba Corp., is expected to be listed on the TSE’s first section. With a market capitalization of over 2 trillion yen, it is slated to be the largest initial public offering in Japan this year.

Demand for memory chips for data centers has been surging around the world due to more and more people working remotely amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. Kioxia, formerly known as Toshiba Memory Holdings Corp., hopes to use the gains from the IPO for capital investment aimed at expanding its business.

An assumed IPO price stands at 3,960 yen per share. The final offering price will be decided on Sept. 28.

The chip business had once been the mainline operations for Toshiba. But it was sold to a consortium led by U.S. investment fund Bain Capital, after Toshiba fell into financial trouble due to huge losses from its nuclear power plant business in the United States. Toshiba Memory Holdings was renamed Kioxia in 2019.

Toshiba plans to sell some 20 pct of its holdings of Kioxia shares after the listing to give back to its shareholders. Bain Capital will also sell part of its stake in Kioxia.

JIJI Press