Kokusai Electric Plunges by Most Since Listing on KKR Sale Plan

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of Kokusai Electric Corp. fell as much as 12% on KKR & Co.’s reported plan to sell a chunk of its stake in the Japanese chip gear maker.

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The private equity firm intends to cash in on its investment in Kokusai Electric by selling around half of its 43% stake to investors, with Kokusai buying those shares back in the market, Reuters reported. Wednesday’s stock decline was the biggest since Kokusai’s October listing.

Prior to the report, shares in the maker of film deposition equipment had more than tripled since their debut, bolstered by surging investor interest in chipmaking as a means to build out artificial intelligence-supporting infrastructure.

Representatives of KKR and Kokusai Electric declined to comment.

Kokusai Electric’s listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange — the nation’s largest since 2018 — coincided with rising awareness worldwide about the importance of chipmaking as a means to control AI and supercomputing.

Kokusai earlier this week said it was considering measures to shore up its capital, including a secondary share sale and buyback.

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