South Korean electric vehicle (EV) battery maker LG Energy Solution (LGES) set its IPO price at KRW257,000 (USD218.2) to KRW300,000 (USD254.7) per share, aiming to raise KRW10.9tr (USD9.2bn) to KRW12.8tr (USD10.8bn) in January, as reported by the Korea Economic Daily on December 7. On the same day, LGES submitted its IPO registration statement to South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service. The company, backed by LG Chem [051915:KS], will start bookbuilding for institutional investors and public subscription for retail investors next month.

Last year, LG Chem separated its battery business and set up LGES that engages in making secondary battery production and energy storage systems (ESS) for EVs and mobile devices. The unit generated KRW692.7bn in operating profits and KRW13.4tr in sales from January to September this year. Market intelligence firm SNE Research estimated that LGES accounted for 23% of the global battery supplies installed at sold EVs during the first ten months of 2021, ranking the second after China’s CATL [300750:CH]. The South Korean battery supplier intends to use raised capital from the listing to expand its annual production capacity to 260 gigawatt-hours (GWh) by 2023 from 120GWh in 2020.

Sources:

https://www.kedglobal.com/newsView/ked202112070011