SK Hynix’s Potential Gain on Kioxia Investment Could Reach $49.2 Billion

Kioxia, formerly Toshiba Memory, is one of the world’s leading NAND flash-memory makers. SK Hynix decided on Sept. 27, 2017, to join a Bain Capital-led consortium and completed the acquisition in 2018. The consortium’s deal was valued at about 2 trillion yen, with SK Hynix contributing 395 billion yen. The investment has also become a key case study in how AI-driven storage demand can revalue memory assets.

As of June 17, 2026, Kioxia’s shares had risen more than 50-fold since its Tokyo listing in late 2024, lifting its market capitalization above 51 trillion yen, largely as AI data centers boosted demand for NAND and storage. SK Hynix holds a stake of more than 7% through the consortium and owns convertible bonds equivalent to another 15% stake that can be converted in 2028. Based on Kioxia’s market value at the time, SK Hynix’s remaining interests were worth 7.9 trillion yen, or about $49.2 billion, implying a potential return of roughly 19 times its investment.