The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

By Hudson Lockett

HONG KONG, June 25 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The sale of American depositary receipts will fund one year of spending at the $1.2 trln Korean chipmaker, though it doesn't need the cash. The real prize is a Micron-like valuation. Success could lure Samsung to follow and dilute China tech's grip on the instrument's niche.

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CONTEXT NEWS

SK Hynix announced plans on June 24 to raise as much as $29.4 billion from a listing on Nasdaq, the second-largest share sale on record after the $85.7 billion initial public offering of SpaceX. The firm expects its American depositary receipts to begin trading on July 10 and will use proceeds to build chip factories and buy chipmaking equipment.

The $1.2 trillion chipmaker has risen 174% since Reuters reported on March 25 that it planned to submit a confidential filing to sell shares in the U.S. It has overtaken rival Samsung Electronics, which rose 88% over the same period, to become the world’s most valuable memory chipmaker.