--- title: "Indiana neighbors take SK Hynix's $3.9 billion plant to court as the board weighs a $12 billion payout" description: "A judge sent the fight over the West Lafayette plant to trial on December 1, and the board decides Wednesday on a reported $12 billion special dividend. Together they show where the company thinks the memory cycle peaks." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Chips" published: 2026-10-27T14:16:02.144Z modified: 2026-10-27T14:16:02.144Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/indiana-neighbors-take-sk-hynix-s-3-9-billion-plant-to-court-as-the-board-weighs-a-12-billion-payout language: en keywords: "SK hynix, HBM, Memory Chips, CHIPS Act, Dividends" --- # Indiana neighbors take SK Hynix's $3.9 billion plant to court as the board weighs a $12 billion payout > A judge sent the fight over the West Lafayette plant to trial on December 1, and the board decides Wednesday on a reported $12 billion special dividend. Together they show where the company thinks the memory cycle peaks. Tippecanoe Circuit Court Judge Sean Persin ruled Thursday that a residents' lawsuit against [SK Hynix](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/sk-hynix)'s $3.87 billion AI memory plant near Purdue University [will go to trial on December 1](https://www.insideindianabusiness.com/articles/judge-rules-lawsuit-to-block-sk-hynixs-3-9b-project-near-purdue-will-go-to-trial), rejecting the city's and the Korean chipmaker's bid to dismiss the case [1]. A pre-trial conference was set for October 26 [1]. SK Hynix plans to package high-bandwidth memory, the chips AI data centers use, with volume production expected in 2029 [1]. Three West Lafayette residents sued after the city council voted 6-3 in May 2025 to rezone a 133-acre Purdue Research Foundation parcel, surrounded by homes, from residential to heavy industrial [1]. Six weeks before that vote, the area plan commission had voted 9-5 to recommend denial [1]. Attached to the project: $458 million in CHIPS Act grants and up to $570 million in federal loans [1]. ## While the lawyers prepare, the builders build Construction has not paused. Industry sources reported Monday that SK Hynix recently secured [new permits for power and gas facilities at the West Lafayette site](https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2026/10/26/sk-hynix-Indiana-hbm-ai-semiconductors/5591793065005/), and that a subsidiary of CK Solution, a semiconductor facilities contractor, won a construction contract worth about 147.7 billion won ($111.5 million) last month [2]. Air Liquide, the French industrial gas company, plans more than $170 million for two Indiana gas plants supplying the plant, with cleanrooms due October 2028 [2]. ## The cash-signal sitting on the same desk The same company's board decides Wednesday what to hand shareholders. SK Hynix told the Korea Exchange on Monday it is reviewing shareholder-return measures, answering [a Dong-A Ilbo report](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/sk-hynix-shares-rise-two-020511834.html) (the Korean newspaper broke the story) of a ₩16 trillion ($12 billion) special dividend, funded by gains from selling down its stake in [Kioxia](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/kioxia-holdings-corporation), the Japanese NAND flash maker SK Hynix backed in 2018 [3][4][5]. The payout would be ten times 2025's entire dividend and land on top of a finished ₩40 trillion buyback [3][4][5]. *Chart: **The reported special dividend is ten times the entire 2025 payout** Bars comparing SK Hynix's 2025 dividends paid of $1.16 billion with the reported $12 billion special dividend and the roughly $30 billion buyback approved in August 2026.* *SK hynix shareholder returns, $ billions. Reported special dividend is unconfirmed; board decision due October 28, 2026. Sources: Yahoo Finance/Investing.com and TIKR. [3][4][5]* Read the combination as a cycle signal. Trailing free cash flow is ₩91.7 trillion, capex is guided to the high-₩40 trillion range, and [FnGuide consensus](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/sk-hynix-gains-3-reported-132303191.html) expects ₩98.23 trillion in third-quarter revenue with ₩76.96 trillion operating profit [2][4]. Yet the US NAND fab that Solidigm was meant to fund, [whose listing SK Hynix paused on October 23](https://theinference.org/article/seoul-called-sk-hynix-s-solidigm-listing-a-breach-then-underwrote-1-5-billion-for-its-suppliers) after shareholders argued it would deepen the parent's discount, has no named financing plan [5]. A near-full payout of the Kioxia windfall, while one fab goes unfunded and another sits in court, suggests a board returning a cyclical windfall rather than committing it to new capacity. That is the market's clue about where the memory cycle peaks. ## The two dates that answer it Two dated events close the question. On October 28 the board announces its shareholder-return package with third-quarter results, subject to approval [3][5]. A figure near the reported ₩16 trillion would confirm the company thinks the memory-cycle peak is now, worth handing back rather than building on [1]. On December 1, the West Lafayette trial opens, where three residents will try to unwind the rezoning under a $3.87 billion plant already under construction [1]. ## Takeaway A judge sent the rezoning fight over SK Hynix's $3.87 billion Indiana HBM plant to a December 1 trial while the board weighs a reported $12 billion special dividend. Read together, the two decisions signal where the company thinks the memory cycle peaks. ## Sources 1. [Inside INdiana Business, Judge rules lawsuit to block SK Hynix's $3.9B project near Purdue will go to trial, 27 October 2026](https://www.insideindianabusiness.com/articles/judge-rules-lawsuit-to-block-sk-hynixs-3-9b-project-near-purdue-will-go-to-trial) 2. [UPI (Asia Today), South Korea's SK Hynix advances U.S. AI memory plant construction, 26 October 2026](https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2026/10/26/sk-hynix-Indiana-hbm-ai-semiconductors/5591793065005/) 3. [Yahoo Finance (Investing.com), SK Hynix shares rise to two-week high on report of $12 billion dividend, 26 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/sk-hynix-shares-rise-two-020511834.html) 4. [Yahoo Finance, SK hynix Gains 3% on Reported $12 Billion Special Dividend From Kioxia Stake Sale, 26 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/sk-hynix-gains-3-reported-132303191.html) 5. [TIKR, SK Hynix Promises Shareholder Returns on October 28: Can It Pay a $12 Billion Special Dividend?, 26 October 2026](https://www.tikr.com/blog/sk-hynix-promises-shareholder-returns-on-october-28-can-it-pay-a-12-billion-special-dividend) --- Indiana neighbors take SK Hynix's $3.9 billion plant to court as the board weighs a $12 billion payout — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/indiana-neighbors-take-sk-hynix-s-3-9-billion-plant-to-court-as-the-board-weighs-a-12-billion-payout