SK hynix takes 9.1% beneficial ownership in AI infrastructure firm Penguin Solutions, consolidating SK Group's bet on the AI data center buildout.
SK hynix just made its AI infrastructure ambitions considerably more concrete. The South Korean memory giant disclosed via a Schedule 13D/A filing on November 2 that it acquired 200,000 shares of Penguin Solutions convertible preferred stock for $377.16 million, a transaction that closed on October 29.
The deal gives SK hynix a 9.1% beneficial ownership stake in Penguin Solutions on an as-converted basis, priced at $1,885.81 per share.
How the stake moved within SK Group
The shares did not come from the open market. They transferred from Astra AI Infra LLC, a subsidiary of SK Telecom, to SHIFTIX1 LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SK hynix NAND Product Solutions Corp.
In plain terms: the stake never left the SK Group family. SK Telecom originally paid $200 million for these same preferred shares in December 2024, so the internal transfer values the position at nearly double what SK Telecom put in less than two years ago.
The preferred shares carry a 6% cumulative dividend and come loaded with governance rights, including board nomination privileges and consent rights under the investor agreement.
What Penguin Solutions actually does
Penguin Solutions, traded on Nasdaq under the ticker PENG, builds AI data center infrastructure. The company designs and integrates the server clusters, networking, and storage systems that hyperscalers and enterprises use to run large AI workloads.
In January 2025, Penguin, SK Telecom, and SK hynix signed a collaboration agreement specifically targeting AI data center solutions, so the equity consolidation follows a working relationship that was already underway.
Penguin Solutions projected fiscal 2026 revenues between $1.5 billion and $1.73 billion.
