LG

■ Enhance corporate value and stockholder value through concentration on the business area of expertise
 
■ Physical division where LG Chem possesses 100% of new battery corporation
□ Official launching of the new battery corporation ‘LG Energy Solutions (tentative name)’ from December 1
 
■ Expected to strengthen expertise in business sector and improve operational efficiency
 
■ Foster the new corporation into the world’s best energy solution company with sales exceeding 30 trillion KRW by 20204
 
 
LG Chem will split its global NO.1 battery business.
 
Regarding this, LG Chem announced on that it held a board meeting on the 17th and resolved a corporate spin-off plan to raise corporate value and stockholder value by concentrating on the business area of expertise.
 
Accordingly, LG Chem plans to receive approval from the extraordinary meeting of stockholders on October 30 and officially launch ‘LG Energy Solution (tentative)’ as a new corporation exclusively in charge of the battery business from December 1.
 
This will be a physical division in which LG Chem will possess all of the stocks issued by the new battery corporation and LG Chem will possess 100% of the non-listed shares of the new corporation.
 
Regarding this corporate spin-off, LG Chem said, “We came to the judgment that this is the right time for the corporate spin-off as the battery industry is growing rapidly and structural profits in the EV battery sector are being made in earnest,”
 
And added, “The corporate spin-off will make it possible to focus on the specialized business areas and enhance management efficiency, thereby upgrading corporate value and stockholder value.”
 
Regarding the physical division method that will be used, it was stated, “Improved corporate value through the growth of the new corporation will also have a positive impact on the mother company, and we also considered the advantages from the synergy effects of the two companies such as R&D cooperation as well as association of battery materials businesses such as anode materials.”
 
LG Chem plans to foster the new corporation to achieve sales of over 30 trillion KRW in 2024 and become the world’s best energy solutions company based on batteries. The expected revenue of the new corporation is around 13 trillion KRW this year.
 
Regarding the IPO (initial public offering) of the new corporation, it stated that “Nothing is confirmed as of now and we plan to continuously review it in the future.”
 
It added, “Cash generated from business activities will be used as the facility investment funds according to the increase of EV demands and since LG Chem possesses 100% of the shares, it will be possible to procure the funds using various methods.”
 
Background and Effects of Split-Off
 
The reason why LG Chem decided to split the company because it judged that this is the optimal point in time to reevaluate the corporate value and maximize stockholder value considering the performance of the battery business and the market situation.
 
In fact, LG Chem created the foundation for creating structural profits in the EV battery business and posted its highest operating profit in the battery business.
 
Furthermore, it has currently procured more than 150 trillion KRW in orders on hand in the EV battery business and it is investing over 3 trillion KRW annually in facilities, and therefore, the need to procure large investment funds in a timely fashion has also increased.
 
Through this division, it will be possible to attract large investments, while easing financial burdens by establishing an independent financial structure system for each business sector.
 
Another reason for this division is the need for prompt decision-making to respond to the rapidly changing market, as well as the rising need for flexible organizational operation.
 
Through this corporate spin-off, LG Chem will be able to receive appropriate evaluation of business value for each of its business fields including the battery business. In addition, the increased corporate value with the growth of the new corporation will make it possible to increase corporate value of the mother company while maximizing stockholder value.
 
In addition, it is expected that it will be possible to focus capacities on areas of expertise while allowing independent and prompt decision-making according to the business features, while upgrading management and operational efficiency.
 
LG Chem plans to foster the new corporation to become the world’s best energy solutions company for not only battery materials, cells, pack manufacturing and sales, but also to have distinguished competitiveness in the E-platform sector that offers various services throughout the lifetime of batteries such as battery care/lease/charging/reuse.
 
Moreover, by concentrating investments where needed and at the right time for the petrochemicals, advanced materials, and bio sectors, it plans to establish itself as a ‘Global Top 5 Chemical Company’ with balanced business portfolios together with the battery business.

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