이 기사는 2021년 08월 06일 08시00분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

SK Innovation has announced a plan to split off its battery unit as it steps up efforts to increase its competitiveness amid an intensifying global battery race.

The South Korean company’s board of directors on Tuesday approved the split-off of its battery business and oil exploration and production business, according to a regulatory filing.

The split-off of the units is subject to shareholder approval, which is being sought at an extraordinary shareholders meeting scheduled on September 16. The new entities, tentatively called SK Battery and SK E&P, will be wholly owned by SK Innovation and are expected to be launched on October 1.

It is likely that SK Battery will follow in the footsteps of SK IE Technology (SKIET), SK Innovation’s battery materials subsidiary, to secure funding for initial growth, industry watchers said.

SKIET was split off from its parent company in April 2019. In September of the following year, it raised 300 billion won ($262.4 million) from Seoul-based Premier Partners at a valuation of 3 trillion won. The deal gave the private equity firm a 10% stake in the company, reducing SK Innovation’s stake to 90%.

In May this year, SKIET completed its listing on Kospi in a stock market debut that valued it at 7.5 trillion won. The initial public offering raised a total of 2.24 trillion won through a fresh issue of 890 billion won and a sale of shares worth 1.35 trillion won offered by existing shareholders.

SK Innovation’s decision to split off the battery unit has been widely expected as the business is considered one of the company’s key future growth drivers.

The planned launch of SK Battery is expected to draw attention from private equity firms seeking new investment opportunities. Additionally, SK Innovation is in the process of selling a 49% stake in its wholly owned subsidiary SK Global Chemical, which has also attracted interest from potential investors.

According to financial details in the filing, SK Battery is expected to have total assets of 4.63 trillion won – which comprise liabilities of 2.5 trillion won and equity of 2.13 trillion won – much higher than SKIET’s initial asset base of 660 billion won.

SK Battery’s cash and cash equivalents are expected to be 204.9 billion won, more than four times higher than those of its parent company. (Reporting by Gyoung-tae Kim)