이 기사는 2019년 11월 29일 08시00분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

Glenwood Private Equity (Glenwood PE), South Korea's homegrown buyout firm, is set to be the new owner of SKC Kolon PI, the world's number one polyimide (PI) film maker based in Korea. The buyout firm is expected to push an aggressive strategy to boost SKC Kolon PI's enterprise value.

SKC Kolon PI's mainstay product is PI film for advanced industries such as display, semi-conductor and electric vehicle. The buyout firm was positive on the growth outlook for SKC Kolon PI due to its strong position in the global market and the expected benefit from increasing adoption of electric vehicle.

PI film, which can replace glass for display substrates, is a core material that can enable the production of a flexible screen, which is a must for a foldable phone. It is bendable despite having a hard surface like glass.
Transparent PI film has higher production costs compared to colored PI film. There is no need to replace colored PI film with transparent PI films for IT devices or electric vehicle batteries. In this light, it is not transparent PI film that makes dent in demand colored PI film demand, but it creates the entirely new market.

SKC Kolon PI is a joint venture formed by SKC and Kolon Industries in 2008. At that time, the two companies decided to form a joint venture to enhance its competitiveness in the global market, which was dominated by Japanese companies such as Du Pont-Toray, KANEKA, and Ube Industries. SKC Kolon PI produced 1500 tons of PI film to become the third largest PI maker in the world, after Du Pont-Toray and KANEKA. SKC Kolon PI has grown continuously and now it is the largest PI maker in the world, commanding 30 percent of the global market.

Since then, SKC and Kolon Industries started to mass produce transparent PI film that can replace glass, with the development of fordable display panel technology. Only a handful of companies in the world hold transparent PI film manufacturing technology, including Sumitomo Chemical, Kolon Industreis, SKC, and SK Innovation's subsidiary SKIET.

Japan-based Sumitomo Chemical is leading the transparent PI film industry while the company is incapable of mass producing the product yet. It is critical to preoccupy the market with smartphone makers such as Samsung Electronics, Huawei, and Motorola increase demands for transparent PI film amid short supply.

SKC and Kolon Industries established SKC Kolon PI to develop the transparent PI films but the two firms failed to share technology to mass produce the films. SKC and Kolon Industries individually filed a trademark application for transparent PI film businesses and have competed to preoccupy the market. As SKC and Kolon Industries need to fully focus on mass producing transparent PI film, the two companies have decided to sell their stake in the joint venture. The latest transaction allows Glenwood PE to concentrate on PI film production while SKC and Kolon Industries concentrate on mass producing transparent PI film.

After the deal completion, the buyout firm is likely to put efforts on boosting SKC Kolon PI's enterprise value to gain global market share. SKC Kolon PI's governance structure would be changed from a current joint venture to single-controlling-owner system, which could help to enhance management efficiency. The buyout firm is expected to dominate the market with increasing PI film production and enhancing cost competitiveness by adding manufacturing lines.

It is said Glenwood PE has much stronger will to acquire the joint venture compared to rivals. The buyout firm will sign a stock purchase agreement (SPA) by the end of next month and close the deal early next year, followed by post-merger integration (PMI) process.

(By reporter Kim Hye-ran)