HS Hyosung Advanced Materials (298050) will additionally acquire 60 million shares of its Belgian affiliate "HS Hyosung Energy Solution BV," which conducts research, manufacturing and sales of secondary battery materials and battery-related products, for 34.48 billion won, the company said in a regulatory filing on the 9th.
HS Hyosung Advanced Materials last year acquired an 80% stake in EMM, the battery anode material subsidiary of Belgian materials company Umicore, for 120 million euros (about 207.4 billion won). It later changed EMM's name to HS Hyosung Energy Solution BV in June this year.
The scheduled date for the share acquisition is the 24th of this month. After the acquisition, the ownership stake will be 72.7%.
HS Hyosung Advanced Materials explained that the purpose of the share acquisition was to pay in capital in response to a cash call. A cash call refers to a subsidiary requesting additional investment from existing shareholders when it needs funds during the course of its business.
The share acquisition is seen as a move to strengthen the silicon anode business. Cho Hyun-sang, vice chairman of HS Hyosung Advanced Materials, has forecast that demand for silicon anode materials, which are needed for next-generation batteries once they are commercialized, will increase, and he has selected the business as a new growth engine.
