Hynix Creditors Sell 4.14% Stake at No Discount to Closing Price Yesterday

Hynix Semiconductor Inc. creditors today sold a 4.14 percent stake in the world’s second-largest maker of computer-memory chips at no discount, raising 584.5 billion won ($493 million).

Hynix creditors sold 24.4 million shares at 23,950 won apiece, the stock’s closing price yesterday, to domestic and foreign institutional investors, the company’s main lender, Korea Exchange Bank, said in a statement today. The shares were offered yesterday at 23,200 won to 23,950 won a share.

The group of nine financial institutions, which is seeking to recoup the $4.6 billion spent on bailing out Ichon, South Korea-based Hynix, owns 15 percent of the company after the transaction, Korea Exchange Bank said. The group has had difficulty in finding a buyer for their shareholding.

“This will be the last block sale of shares by creditors, which should lift any share overhang concern,” said Lee Seung Woo, an analyst at Shinyoung Securities Co. “Demand for personal-computer parts may rise gain after mid-August, driven by inventory rebuilding related to back-to-school demand.”

Hynix was down 0.6 percent to 23,800 won as of 10:24 a.m. in Seoul today. The stock has added 2.8 percent this year, compared with a 5.5 percent gain in the benchmark Kospi stock index.

Creditors sold a 6.7 percent stake in Hynix for 923.2 billion won in March after three failed attempts to sell their entire holding. They’ve said they’ll continue looking for a strategic purchaser.

Hynix last week reported operating profit and sales that beat analysts’ estimates as demand for PCs and a shortage of the chips drove up prices. Second-quarter operating income was a record 1.05 trillion won, compared with a loss of 211 billion won a year earlier. Revenue rose 96 percent to a record 3.28 trillion won.

Nomura Holdings Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG, Woori Investment & Securities Co. and Shinhan Investment Corp. arranged the sale.

To contact the reporter on this story: Saeromi Shin in Seoul at sshin15@bloomberg.net.

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