South Korea's Hanmi Semiconductor to Invest $32.9M in SpaceX Ahead of IPO

SEOUL, June 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Hanmi Semiconductor Co. said in a regulatory filing Friday that it is seeking to acquire 50 billion won (US$32.9 million) worth of shares in SpaceX, ahead of the U.S. space company's stock market debut. The investment, equivalent to around 7.24 percent of equity, comes amid the company's prospects on the "growth potential of Elon Musk's Terrafab and SpaceX, amid an explosive demand on advanced chips, aerospace and satellite technologies and artificial intelligence (AI)," according to the filing. Terrafab is a vertically integrated semiconductor manufacturing complex spearheaded by Musk, involving Tesla, SpaceX and xAI, an AI company founded by the U.S. billionaire. The facility is expected to start operations in 2028. Some 80 percent of chips produced from there will be used in data centers of SpaceX, while the rest will be topped on vehicles of Tesla as well as its Optimus robots. "We will reinvest the expected future returns into our core semiconductor equipment business to seek sustainable growth, while enhancing shareholder value," an official from the South Korean company said. SpaceX is scheduled to go public on the tech-heavy Nasdaq exchange on Friday (U.S. time). Its initial public offering price (IPO) is set at US$135 per share, bringing its total market capitalization to around $1.8 trillion.