SK Hynix advisors win big fee windfall after modest SpaceX payday

July 10 : Global investment banks and brokerages leading SK Hynix's mega share sale earned nearly $260 million in fees, a boost for the industry which took in a relatively modest $500 million from SpaceX's record share sale last month.

The fees equate to about 0.97 per cent of the total amount raised, SK Hynix's filings showed, meaning bankers earned more as a percentage of deal size than those who worked on SpaceX's initial public offering.

SpaceX bankers earned 0.67 per cent or $500 million of the $75 billion in an IPO which eclipsed the previous record set by Saudi Aramco in 2019, as well as SK Hynix's U.S. listing this week.

Citigroup earned over $70 million from the SK Hynix sale, which was 20 per cent more than other banks on the deal, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter, who declined to be identified when discussing confidential information.

Citigroup was a joint global co-ordinator and the depository bank on the deal. The bank declined to comment on fees earned.

Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan were also global co-ordinators.

JPMorgan declined to comment. Bank of America and Goldman Sachs did not respond to requests for comment.

South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix raised about $26.5 billion after pricing its U.S. stock at $149 per depository receipt, a 2.7 per cent premium over its average share price in Seoul over the past three days.