SK Hynix Emerges as Kioxia’s Top Investor, Drawing Antitrust Scrutiny

Kioxia, formerly Toshiba Memory, was sold in June 2018 to a Bain Capital-led consortium for about ¥2 trillion, with SK Hynix joining the investor group. The ownership shift matters because SK Hynix and Kioxia are major rivals in NAND flash memory, a market central to smartphones, data centers and AI infrastructure. A Korean competitor gaining substantial voting influence over the Japanese chipmaker could reshape industry competition while intensifying scrutiny of governance, technology safeguards and supply-chain control.

Kioxia said on Aug. 10, 2026 that Toshiba’s stake had fallen to 14.12% from 14.48% as of July 31. SK Hynix holds convertible bonds exchangeable for almost all voting rights in BCPE Pangea Cayman2, which owns about 77.4 million Kioxia shares, or 14.19%, making the Korean group the largest investor indirectly. Conversion remains subject to antitrust, foreign-exchange and foreign-trade approvals in multiple jurisdictions, as well as a pact barring SK Hynix from exceeding 15% of Kioxia’s voting rights through 2028 without consent. Kioxia has flagged potential conflicts with ordinary shareholders and risks to management independence.