SK Innovation and SK E&S have received the go-ahead from shareholders to merge – which will bolster the SK On battery business.
An extraordinary meeting in Seoul on 27 August approved the merger and creation of Asia-Pacific’s largest private energy firm with assets of ₩100 trillion ($74.9 billion) and revenues of ₩88 trillion ($65.9 billion).
It said the merger is anticipated to enhance the competitiveness of the energy portfolio by integrating SK Innovation’s oil and battery businesses with SK E&S’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) and renewable energy businesses.
More than 85% of shareholders attending the meeting approved the merger, according to SK Innovation. It said 95% of foreign shareholders at the meeting gave their backing.
In July, we reported how the battery manufacturing unit SK On group outlined plans for significant cost-cutting measures as part of an ‘emergency management’ strategy. SK On – the fourth largest EV battery supplier in the world – is suffering from weak demand on the European and US EV markets.
Analysts said SK On was in a worse position than South Korean rivals LGES and Samsung SDI. The company had offered its customers generous terms on pricing that were now coming back to haunt it.
Photo: Park Sang-kyu, CEO of SK Innovation, addresses the Extraordinary General Meeting in Seoul. SK Innovation.
