KKR offloads entire stake in Kokusai Electric; shares tumble on exit

KKR completed a full exit from Kokusai Electric, one of Japan's leading chipmaking equipment suppliers, sending shares lower on the secondary offering. The Tokyo-listed maker of CVD and ion implant tools serves Samsung, TSMC, and Intel fabs with mission-critical deposition and doping hardware.

The sale signals KKR's conviction shift on semicon capital intensity or valuation levels, particularly as fab capex cycles tighten. Kokusai's customer base—process-node leaders racing into 2nm and 1.4nm—remains resilient, but the equity window may have narrowed after a strong H1 2025 run.