Yahoo Finance KKR Plans to Cut Its Stake in Kokusai Electric, Reuters Says
(Bloomberg) -- KKR & Co. plans to sell about half of its stake in newly listed Kokusai Electric Corp. to secure returns from a rally that’s more than tripled the Japanese chip gear maker’s stock price.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Saudis Warned G-7 Over Russia Seizures With Debt Sale Threat
Microsoft Orders China Staff to Use iPhones for Work and Drop Android
Biden’s Biggest Donors Left Powerless to Sway Him to End Bid
Stocks Hold Near Peak as Powell Sticks to Script: Markets Wrap
Private equity firm KKR plans to sell the shares to investors, and Kokusai will buy back those shares in the market, Reuters said, citing a person familiar with the matter. KKR holds around 43% of Kokusai Electric, Reuters said.
Shares in the maker of film deposition equipment have soared since they debuted in October, thanks in part to surging investor interest in chipmaking as a means to build out artificial intelligence-supporting infrastructure.
Representatives of KKR and Kokusai Electric declined to comment. Shares in Kokusai Electric closed up 5.4% in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Kokusai Electric’s debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange last fall - the nation’s largest listing since 2018 — coincided with rising awareness worldwide about the importance of chipmaking as a means to control AI and supercomputing.
The Qatar Investment Authority acquired a minority stake in Kokusai Electric, which was spun out of Hitachi Kokusai Electric after KKR bought the mobile phone and wireless equipment manufacturer in a tender offer in 2017.
In 2019, California-based Applied Materials Inc. agreed to buy the smaller Tokyo-based Kokusai Electric, but the deal was scuttled after it failed to win approval from Chinese regulators. Both companies compete with Tokyo Electron Ltd. and supply the world’s biggest chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics Co.
(Updates with background and closing share price from the third paragraph)
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
At SpaceX, Elon Musk’s Own Brand of Cancel Culture Is Thriving
How Stocks Became the Game That Record Numbers of Americans Are Playing
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
