SK hynix Inc. (“SK hynix”) has listed its American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) on the U.S. NASDAQ stock market. Throughout the ADR listing process, Kim & Chang provided legal advice to the underwriters as their Korean legal counsel.

SK hynix, one of the world’s largest memory chip makers, supplies core semiconductors including DRAM chips and NAND flash memory chips to various fields, including artificial intelligence (“AI”), data centers, mobile and high-performance computing (“HPC”). With the recent growth of the AI industry and the increasing demand for High-Bandwidth Memory (“HBM”), SK hynix’s competitiveness in the global semiconductor market has strengthened further. As such, SK hynix has continued to push ahead with diverse capital market strategies to expand its overseas investor base and improve its access to global capital markets.

In addition to providing comprehensive legal advice on the ADR listing, we performed the following scope of services: (1) review of matters related to Korean law in the course of preparing and filing a Form F-1 registration statement under the U.S. Securities Act; (2) review of the registration statement submitted under the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act of Korea; (3) review of various contracts accompanying the ADR listing process, such as the Underwriting Agreement and the Deposit Agreement; (4) preparation of legal opinions (i.e., Closing Opinion, 10b-5 Letter) as a Korean legal counsel; and (5) review of disclosure requirements and applicable regulations under Korean law.

Through the ADR listing, SK hynix is now positioned to expand investor accessibility within the U.S. capital markets and further strengthen its global investor base. The ADR listing is characterized as a cross-border transaction that requires a comprehensive consideration of the differences between Korea and the US in terms of public offering requirements, listing procedures and capital market practices. Accordingly, our firm thoroughly analyzed the differences in regulatory and market practices between Korea and the US, and coordinated the resolution of various legal and practical issues arising from such differences. Through these efforts, we contributed to the successful completion of the ADR listing, a complex international capital market transaction which required close collaboration among domestic and foreign legal advisors, the depositary bank, the underwriters and the issuing company.