SKI sells its subsidiary business to expand battery production capacity
According to foreign media reports, SKI plans to sell 10% of its 300 billion won (approximately RMB 1.75 billion) shares of SKIE Technology Co. (SKIET), its lithium battery separator subsidiary, which is undergoing an IPO, to PremierPartners, a private equity fund, and plans to use this The proceeds from the sale of sub-equity shares to expand its power battery business. Recently, SKI has frequently sold its businesses. Prior to this, in early August, SKI also sold its subsidiary lubricant base oil supplier SK Lubricants Co. to expand its power battery business. The reason behind SKI's eagerness to expand battery production capacity is the continued growth of the global new energy vehicle market and the strong demand for power batteries, and SKI's power battery business has also seen rapid growth. According to previous plans, SKI will increase its power battery production capacity from the current 4.7GWh to 100GWh by 2025, which will require more than 6 trillion won (about 35 billion yuan) of capital investment. According to current market data, in the first 7 months of this year, SKI achieved approximately 2.2GWh of installed power battery capacity, ranking sixth in the world for installed power battery capacity, with a market share of 4.1%. SKI's goal is to increase its global market share to double digits by 2025, which requires it to further expand its production capacity and reduce costs. Editor's comment: With the intensified development of the new energy automobile industry, SKI, as a battery manufacturer, will naturally not miss this market opportunity. At present, SKI has established battery factories in South Korea, China, the United States, Hungary and other places, and at the same time actively expands its battery production capacity in Hungary and the United States to reserve its own production capacity. However, it is still necessary to be vigilant that although the battery business is popular, the current SKI power battery business is still at a loss and has not yet achieved profitability. The overall pressure on the corporate battery business is obvious.