SK IE Technology Co. (SKIET), the battery material subsidiary of SK Innovation Co., is prepping to go public on South Korea’s main Kospi market in May, which would be SK Group’s another big initial public offering (IPO) following SK Biopharmaceuticals last year and SK Life Science this year.

SKIET filed with the Financial Services Commission (FSC) a preliminary registration statement on Wednesday for its Kospi IPO by May, according to sources on Thursday.

SKIET has manufactured lithium-ion battery separators (LiBS), a core material for electric vehicle battery production, while developing flexible cover window (FCW), a type of colorless polyimide, as its future growth driver.

The company recently decided to invest 1.13 trillion won ($997.6 million) to build its third and fourth LiBS facilities in Poland to meet the explosive demand for battery separators from global carmakers. When its factories go fully operational in Korea, China and Poland by 2024, its annual LiBS production capacity would reach 2.73 billion square meters.

The company posted a 55.4 percent on-year increase in operating profit to 125.2 billion won last year on the back of rising demand. Sales soared 78.4 percent to 469.3 billion won and net profit up 38.4 percent to 88.2 billion won.

Market researcher SNE Research said that SKIET accounted for the largest share in the global Tier 1 LiBS market. Tier 1 LiBS suppliers include Japan’s Asahi Kasei and Toray which provide their products to top-tier carmakers like Tesla, Volkswagen, Renault Nissan, Toyota, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors.

SKIET decided to issue 8,556,000 new shares, and some 22 percent of SK Innovation’s stake, or 12,834,000 shares, in SKIET will be sold to the market for the IPO. It has set the desired price band of 78,000 won to 105,000 won per share, where its corporate value would reach up to 7.5 trillion won.

By Pulse

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