Kioxia plans to raise as much as $3 billion via a dollar bond sale that would be its first corporate debt issuance, in the latest sign of investor appetite abroad for Japanese company notes including riskier firms.
The Tokyo-based memory-chip maker is rated BB+, one step below investment grade, by both S&P and Fitch. S&P said the firm’s efficiency and technology keep it resilient in the highly volatile NAND flash memory business, which has been stagnant in recent months. It hired banks including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs as joint lead managers for the offering, with investor meetings scheduled for July 14, people familiar with the matter said.
Kioxia joins a rush by major Japanese companies to sell bonds abroad, including blue-chip firms like NTT as well as junk-rated companies such as Nissan. Companies are opting to tap more funds in overseas markets because deeper liquidity outside of Japan and more willingness to seek higher returns from riskier assets mean that even weaker and newer firms find it easier to get funding. That’s in contrast with conservative investment practices in the home market.
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