* Korean chipmaker says it has made a confidential filing

to US SEC

* SK Hynix seeks to list about 2% to 3% of its total

shares - source

* Would equate to $9.6 billion-$14.4 billion of SK

Hynix's market cap

* SK Hynix says listing structure, size and timeline not

yet finalised

(Adds fund manager quote, share move and background)

By Hyunjoo Jin and Cynthia Kim

SEOUL, March 25 (Reuters) - South Korean chipmaker SK

Hynix announced on Wednesday it made a confidential

filing for a U.S. listing in 2026, which a source said could

raise as much as $14 billion.

SK Hynix plans to list about 2% to 3% of its total shares

and hopes to use the funds to help finance its work in chip

factories in South Korea's Yongin city and the U.S. state of

Indiana, a person with direct knowledge of the discussions told

Reuters.

The company, one of the world's largest makers of memory

chips, has been expanding production capacity to keep up with

strong demand for artificial intelligence data centers. SK

Hynix's shares were trading 3.8% higher on Wednesday morning.

Confidential filings allow companies to withhold details

about their finances and offering terms until closer to the

actual listing.

A 2% to 3% share issue would equate to $9.6 billion-$14.4

billion of SK Hynix's market capitalisation, and potentially

more than double Coupang's $4.6 billion U.S. IPO in

2021, according to Reuters' calculations based on its Tuesday

closing share price.

SK Hynix did not immediately respond to a request for

comment on the fundraising size.

The company, in a domestic regulatory filing on Wednesday,

said: "While we aim to complete the listing within 2026,

specific details - such as the size, structure, and timeline of

the offering - have not yet been finalized."

The Korea Economic Daily reported earlier this week that SK

Hynix was considering raising 10 trillion to 15 trillion won

($10.03 billion) by issuing new shares in a U.S. listing.

CLAMOUR FOR SHARE BUYBACK

The Korea Corporate Governance Forum, an advocacy group that

comprises investors and lawyers, said on Wednesday it opposes SK

Hynix's potential issuance of new shares for the U.S. listing,

saying the move would dilute the value of existing shares, and

undermine Korea's revised legislation to protect the interests

of all shareholders.

The forum said SK Hynix will be able to generate more than

enough excess cash flow even after making capital expenditure

and R&D investments during 2026-28, and urged the company to buy

back 10% to 15% of its stock and use most of that for the U.S.

listing.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said last week SK Hynix is

reviewing a potential U.S. ADR listing to increase exposure to

global investors.

"The decision was disappointing," said Kim Hyun-su, a fund

manager at Seoul-based IBK Asset Management. "I don't understand

why they have to issue new shares - they can probably pursue the

listing using existing shares instead. If they conduct buybacks

and then seek the U.S. listing, it would make everyone happy."

Reuters reported in January that the firm plans to

accelerate the opening of a new plant in Yongin city to February

2027 to meet rising demand for memory chips.

SK Hynix said on Tuesday it will purchase 11.95 trillion won

worth of ASML's EUV lithography tools, used to create

chip circuitry, in the largest single order publicly disclosed

by an ASML customer.

The company has been the top supplier for high bandwidth

memory (HBM) semiconductors used in artificial intelligence

chipsets designed by the likes of Nvidia ( NVDA ), but

cross-town rival Samsung Electronics has been trying

to narrow the gap with the latest HBM4 chips.

(Reporting by Cynthia Kim, Hyunjoo Jin, Jack Kim and Heejin

Kim; Editing by Chris Reese, Christopher Cushing and Muralikumar

Anantharaman)