Bain Capital executives say that while Kioxia may have become one of Japan's most valuable companies in the AI wave, the South Korean chip giant still possesses structural advantages. Yuji Sugimoto, head of Bain Capital Japan, stated, "The reason South Korean companies have achieved such success in the semiconductor industry is due to the strong top-down leadership model and ownership structure of conglomerates like Samsung and SK." He added, "In the semiconductor industry, if you can't continuously invest, you fall behind and are eventually eliminated. I think it's very difficult for large Japanese companies to manage a business that requires long-term investment under their existing governance structures." Sugimoto led Bain's acquisition of Toshiba's memory business. This business was spun off from Toshiba in 2017 and acquired by a Bain-led consortium for approximately 2 trillion yen in 2018, subsequently being renamed Kioxia in 2019. Sugimoto stated that if Kioxia had remained under Toshiba's umbrella, the company would not have been able to complete its current transformation. Since its listing in December 2024, Kioxia's stock price has increased by over 4000%. Bain Capital has now exited its investment in Kioxia.
