LG

Finding and fostering domestic companies in the battery materials and eco-friendly industry materials sectors
 
 
■ Participating as a core investor for the KBE (Korea Battery & ESG) Fund
□ Plans to raise funds worth a total of 400 billion KRW including LG Chem`s investments
□ Synergy expected from the partnership of LG Chem having industrial and technological expertise and the fund management company, IMM Credit Solution’s corporate analysis and discovery capacities
 
■ Chief Executive Officer Hak Cheol Shin, says procuring future growth engine by strengthening the domestic ESG industry’s ecosystem
□ “This investment will become the stepping stone for LG Chem to strengthen the ESG industrial ecosystem together with prospective SMEs and medium-sized corporations, and to continuously find future growth engines”
 
 
LG Chem will begin finding and fostering domestic companies in the battery materials and eco-friendly materials sectors by participating as a core investor in the prospective ESG company incubation fund.
 
LG Chem announced on the 11th that it will invest 150 billion KRW as a core investor (Anchor Limited Partner) of the KBE (Korea Battery & ESG) Fund managed by the domestic private equity fund management company, IMM Credit Solution.
 
This is the first time that LG Chem will invest as a core investor for funds raised by an external asset management company.
 
Plans are to raise over 400 billion KRW for the KBE Fund and it will find and invest in domestic companies equipped with technologies and growth potentials in ESG industry-related sectors.
 
The fields that are preferentially being reviewed for investments are ▲core materials for EV batteries such as cathode and anode material manufacturing, recycling core metals for batteries, etc. and ▲the eco-friendly industry materials sector that includes recycling polymer products such as waste plastics, etc. and biodegradable plastic technologies, etc.
 
By combining LG Chem’s industrial and technological expertise with IMM Credit Solution's competencies in analyzing and discovering target companies, it is expected to provide a broader perspective on the overall ESG-related industries and also find investment opportunities from the initial stages of prospective companies.
 
To fast-track ESG management, LG Chem has selected and is fostering ▲battery materials such as cathode materials, etc., ▲ sustainable solutions such as biodegradable plastics, and ▲e-mobility materials such as lightweight and digitalization as next-generation growth engines.
 
IMM Credit Solution is a wholly-owned subsidiary of IMM PE, a leading private equity fund management company in Korea, and it has extensive investment experiences in EV materials and the chemicals industry, while being composed of experts with a wide network of relevant advisors, professionals, and companies.
 
With the aim of fostering advanced materials this year, LG Chem has decided to recruit hundreds of personnel regarding battery materials alone, and is currently in the hiring process. It is also looking to increase its cathode production capacity, which is a key part of battery materials, from 40,000 tons last year to 260,000 tons by 2026.
 
Furthermore, for the CTO R&D Center, it plans to hire over 100 new R&D personnel in eco-friendly products that include biodegradable plastics and sustainability such as carbon-neutral technologies.
 
LG Chem is continuing development of eco-friendly PCR (Post-Consumer Recycled) and biodegradable plastic products, and it aims at producing bio material-based PO (polyolefin), SAP (super absorbent polymer), and ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene), etc. during the second half of this year.
 
Chief Executive Officer Hak Cheol Shin said, “This investment will become the stepping stone for LG Chem to strengthen the ESG industrial ecosystem together with prospective SMEs and medium-sized corporations, and to continuously discover future growth engines”