Former Toshiba Chip Unit Postpones $14 Bil. Ipo


Former Toshiba chip unit postpones $14 bil. IPO

Major Japanese memory-chip maker, Kioxia Holdings, has shelved its plans to go public next week, amid growing uncertainty surrounding its business. The escalating tussle between Washington and Beijing over tech firms was behind the move.

The company is a spin-off of electronics giant Toshiba's memory chip business. Its board made the decision on Monday.

Kioxia is one of the world's top makers of NAND flash memory chips.

It was due to be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on October 6, with an estimated market capitalization of more than 14 billion dollars. That would make it the biggest IPO on the bourse this year.

However, Kioxia says it is unable to ship semiconductors to a major customer, Huawei, citing US regulations.

Since September 15, Washington has tightened pressure on sales of computer chips to the Chinese telecom giant.

Kioxia's management says it is also concerned about a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

The chief executive says it will wait and see how the US regulations play out and monitor market trends. He says the company will "revisit an IPO at an appropriate time."