Japan’s Kioxia Holdings Corp. is focused on pursuing an initial public offering as soon as this summer, rather than engaging with potential foreign acquirers and navigating foreign regulatory approvals, according to four people familiar with the matter.
The maker of memory chips sees an IPO as the most promising route to realizing value for shareholders, including Toshiba Corp. and Bain Capital, said the people, asking not to be named because the deliberations are private. Their comments came after the Wall Street Journal reported Micron Technology Inc. and Western Digital Corp. are each exploring a potential deal for Kioxia.
The Tokyo-based company, which makes NAND flash memory chips, has been planning to go public since Toshiba sold a majority stake in the business to a consortium in 2018, including Bain, Apple Inc. and SK Hynix Inc. The timing for an IPO has slipped because of volatility in the memory-chip market, but stakeholders still believe a public offering is the best option for raising cash and rewarding shareholders, the people said.