Bain Capital has exited its entire position in Japanese flash memory maker Kioxia, Managing Partner David Gross told Bloomberg TV on Wednesday, confirming the private equity firm's full divestment.
Bain originally led an $18 billion acquisition of the business when it was Toshiba Memory in 2018. The company subsequently rebranded as Kioxia and completed an initial public offering on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in late-2024 after navigating a difficult restructuring and a failed proposed merger with U.S. memory maker Western Digital.
Artificial intelligence-driven demand for memory products played a central role in Kioxia’s rapid market revaluation over the past year. That surge pushed the company’s market capitalization to a peak of 56 trillion yen ($345 billion) in mid-June, temporarily surpassing Toyota Motor to become the most valuable public company in Japan.
When Kioxia listed publicly, Bain held just over half of the company, a stake that translated into a substantial gain as the share price climbed. In recent months Bain trimmed that holding through multiple large transactions. The first widely reported sale came in November 2025, when a Bain unit sold in excess of $2 billion of Kioxia shares to overseas investors, and that was followed by an additional sale of more than $3.5 billion in February.
"We were winding down… we don’t have a stake anymore," Gross said on Wednesday when asked about Bain’s Kioxia holdings.
Outside of Bain’s holdings, Toshiba remained the single largest shareholder in Kioxia, with a reported stake of about 22% as of November 2025. Other participants in the 2018 buyout included South Korean memory chip maker SK Hynix as well as Apple, Dell Technologies, Kingston Technology and Seagate Technology.
Context and implications
The combination of a private-equity-led buyout, a challenging restructuring, an unsuccessful merger proposal, and a post-IPO valuation boom driven by AI demand creates a complex ownership picture for Kioxia. Bain’s full exit marks the end of its multi-year investment cycle in the company and crystallizes the return on its initial $18 billion acquisition.
This development has implications for several market participants and sectors, notably the semiconductor and memory supply chain, private equity investors, and Japanese equity market capitalization rankings.
Additional details
- Bain’s acquisition of Toshiba Memory was completed in 2018 for $18 billion.
- Kioxia completed an IPO on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in late-2024 after restructuring and a failed merger with Western Digital.
- Kioxia’s market cap reached 56 trillion yen ($345 billion) in mid-June, overtaking Toyota Motor at that point in time.
- Bain reduced its position via a >$2 billion sale in November 2025 and a >$3.5 billion sale in February; Bain has now sold its remaining shares.
- Toshiba held about a 22% stake as of November 2025; other entities involved in the 2018 buyout included SK Hynix, Apple, Dell Technologies, Kingston Tech and Seagate Tech.