[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] The National Pension Service (NPS) has decided to vote against the plan to spin off the battery business at the LG Chem shareholders' meeting scheduled for the 30th.
The NPS Fund Stewardship Committee held its 16th meeting on the 27th to review the direction of exercising voting rights on the approval of the spin-off plan to be discussed at the LG Chem shareholders' meeting and made this decision.
The committee stated, "While we agree with the intent and purpose of the spin-off plan, we judged that there are concerns about the dilution of share value and potential damage to shareholder value for the National Pension Service," explaining the reason for opposing the plan.
However, the committee also reported that some members expressed dissenting opinions.
LG Chem said, "We deeply regret the National Pension Service's opposition, as most domestic and international proxy advisory firms, including ISS, the world's largest proxy advisory institution, and the Korea Corporate Governance Service, have supported this matter."
They added, "This spin-off aims to nurture the battery business into the world's leading energy solutions company to enhance shareholder and corporate value, and we will communicate more actively until the shareholders' meeting."
LG Chem plans to hold a shareholders' meeting on the 30th to decide on the physical spin-off of the battery business division.
However, LG Chem's minority shareholders are strongly opposed, arguing that they invested in LG Chem because of the battery business, and if the battery division is spun off, they will not be able to hold shares in the newly established company.
The National Pension Service is the second-largest shareholder of LG Chem. The shareholding structure of LG Chem is as follows: LG Corporation and its affiliates (34.17%), National Pension Service (10.20%), and minority shareholders holding less than 1% (54.33%).
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