SK Hynix $29B ADR Listing Lifts Won as Hedging Begins
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- SK Hynix is expected to begin using currency forwards as soon as Friday to hedge flows from its $29 billion American depositary receipt listing, according to a person familiar with the matter.
- South Korea's won strengthened after the report that the nation's officials were preparing for currency flows related to the SK Hynix ADR offering.
- The SK Hynix ADR listing is scheduled to settle on July 14, per the person cited in the report.
- While the ADRs are denominated in US dollars, SK Hynix has said it intends to repatriate some of the funds raised to invest in Korea, requiring the company to buy won.
- The source requested anonymity because the matter is confidential, and details surfaced via Bloomberg's Daedo Kim and Hooyeon Kim on July 3.
Why it matters: A $29 billion ADR offering settling July 14 — one of the year's largest — directly ties the won's near-term direction to SK Hynix's repatriation timing. Korean officials are pre-positioning because even a partial repatriation of dollar proceeds into won-denominated domestic investment creates outsized FX demand relative to typical daily volumes.
