Battery Split Plan Passed with 80.2% Approval
Kim Jun, President "Top Priority Is Battery Safety"
Kim Jun, CEO of SK Innovation, is speaking in his capacity as chairman at the SK Innovation Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders held on the 16th at the SK Seorin Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul. On the same day, SK Innovation held the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders and resolved the physical division plan for the battery and oil exploration and production (E&P) businesses. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] SK Innovation's plan to split its battery business has been finally approved.
SK Innovation announced on the 16th that it held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders at the SUPEX Hall in the SK Seorin Building, Jongno-gu, Seoul, where the partial amendment of the articles of incorporation and the plan to split the battery business and the exploration and production (E&P) business were all approved.
SK Innovation had previously resolved the split at the board meeting on August 3, judging that it was necessary for the battery and E&P businesses to be objectively recognized by the market for their competitiveness and growth potential, and that the split of the two businesses would help enhance SK Innovation's corporate value. With the approval at this extraordinary general meeting, the newly established companies, tentatively named 'SK Battery Co., Ltd.' and 'SK E&P Co., Ltd.', will officially launch on October 1.
At the extraordinary general meeting, the split plan for the two new companies in the battery and E&P businesses was passed with an approval rate of 80.2%. In addition, partial amendments to the articles of incorporation, including the establishment of a governance charter, the renaming of committees within the board of directors, and the addition of provisions allowing dividends to be paid in cash, stock, or other assets, were also passed with 97.9% approval.
It is known that most domestic and international proxy advisory firms have also expressed support for both the SK Innovation battery and E&P business split and the partial amendment of the articles of incorporation.
With the approval of this extraordinary general meeting, the promotion of SK Innovation's core 'Carbon to Green' innovation strategy in its financial story is expected to gain further momentum. On July 1, SK Innovation unveiled its 'Financial Story' at 'Story Day', announcing plans to transform its carbon-centered business structure into a green-centered one. As a concrete measure, it revealed plans to split the battery and E&P businesses to secure expertise in each business, accelerate decision-making, and maximize value through independent management.
In particular, the battery business has already secured an order backlog exceeding 1,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh), a global leading position, and currently needs to rapidly expand its battery production capacity from about 40 GWh annually to over 200 GWh by 2025. Therefore, this split is expected to be a turning point for accelerating global growth and further strengthening competitiveness in the future.
Following this shareholders' meeting decision, the battery business will undertake medium-to-large batteries for electric vehicles, BaaS (Battery as a Service), and energy storage system (ESS) businesses, while the E&P business will carry out oil exploration and production and carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects.
Kim Jun, the CEO, said, "This is an essential decision to further enhance the expertise and competitiveness of each business and secure a definite advantage in the increasingly fierce global competition. Starting with the company split, we will build specialized and independent management systems for each company to strengthen competitiveness and accelerate both qualitative and quantitative growth."
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