Bain Capital has sold its entire remaining stake in Kioxia Holdings, the Japanese NAND flash memory chipmaker, closing the books on an investment that started as a rescue mission and ended as one of the most profitable technology deals in the history of the asset class.
Bain is projected to realize over $15 billion in profits from its original position, with total returns approaching 20 times its initial capital.
How a distressed Toshiba division became a $75 billion business
The story starts in 2018, when Toshiba was in genuine financial trouble and needed to sell something valuable fast. Its memory chip division was the crown jewel, and Bain Capital led an $18 billion consortium to acquire it. That made the deal Asia’s largest leveraged buyout at the time, a title it held for years.
Bain committed to keeping operations in Japan, which helped smooth the political friction.
