Toshiba Chip Business Changes Name Before Planned IPO

  • New name for spun-off unit is a mash-up of Japanese and Greek
  • Chipmaker is world’s second-largest flash memory manufacturer
Stacy SmithPhotographer: Takaaki Iwabu/Bloomberg
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Toshiba Memory Corp., the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker that was spun out of its parent last year, is changing its name to Kioxia as it gears up for an initial public offering.

By taking a new name, the semiconductor company is marking a clean break from its roots as a unit of Toshiba Corp., which retained a 40% stake after selling it to a group led by Bain Capital. Kioxia is an invented word that combines the Japanese word for memory — kioku — and axia, the Greek term for value. The new moniker takes effect Oct. 1 under the full name Kioxia Holdings Corp.