[Exclusive] SKC to Collaborate with UK Nexion and US AMAT to Establish Joint Venture... Approved by Board

Investment Plan for Anode Materials and GaN Power Semiconductor Business Proposed
One Investment Resolution Scheduled for Board Meeting on the Afternoon of the 29th

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] SKC is partnering with global companies to leap into the world's No.1 mobility materials company with a corporate value of 30 trillion KRW by 2025. To enter the secondary battery (battery) anode material market, it is pursuing joint ventures (JVs) with Nexcion, a UK-based silicon anode material manufacturer, and Applied Materials (AMAT), a US semiconductor equipment company, to enter the GaN (gallium nitride) power semiconductor market.

On the afternoon of the 29th, SKC plans to hold a board meeting to approve one of the two joint venture investment proposals with Nexcion and AMAT. An insider from SK Group said, "Ahead of the board meeting on the 29th afternoon, we discussed two investment proposals. However, only one investment proposal will be submitted and processed at this meeting." The other proposal will be reviewed further and submitted at the next board meeting.

The company SKC is partnering with to enter the anode material market is Nexcion. Nexcion is a next-generation lithium-ion battery silicon anode material manufacturer. It has secured technology that dramatically increases battery capacity by utilizing silicon, which has more than 10 times the lithium storage capacity compared to carbon-based materials.

Earlier, on the 24th, SKC held an 'SKC Investor Day' and announced, "We will enter new material businesses such as battery cathode and anode materials and the world's first hyperperformance computing glass substrates, aiming to generate over 80% of profits from mobility materials by 2025." To this end, the company presented a strategy to secure technology through cooperation with world-class companies and commercialize it to grow into a core business.

SKC plans to establish a joint venture with Nexcion and further aims to list this company on the US Nasdaq market. An insider from SK Group said, "Once the investment proposal is finally approved, we will proceed with establishing the joint venture and ultimately pursue listing on the Nasdaq market." However, SKC's public relations office stated, "It is true that the board meeting is being held today, but we do not know the details of the investment proposals," and added, "We cannot confirm the facts regarding the joint venture with Nexcion."

SKC is also pursuing investment to establish a joint venture with AMAT to enter the GaN power semiconductor market. AMAT is the world's No.1 company in semiconductor equipment sales. Given AMAT's strong commitment to the GaN power semiconductor business, the two companies' interests align, leading to this cooperation. The joint venture share ratio is AMAT (equipment) 49% and SKC (materials) 51%.

SKC has a strong commitment to new material businesses that can significantly improve the performance of secondary batteries, such as silicon anode materials and high-nickel cathode materials. The reason for focusing on GaN power semiconductors is that, due to the material's characteristics, it is heat-resistant and can withstand high voltages better than silicon semiconductors. Therefore, it is widely used in electric vehicle batteries, fast chargers, and 5G communication equipment. In particular, applying GaN power semiconductors to battery charge/discharge equipment, which previously used silicon semiconductors, increases charge/discharge efficiency and enhances production per space due to equipment miniaturization. GaN power semiconductors can be applied not only to batteries but also to various fields such as LiDAR used in autonomous vehicles, wireless charging, data centers, and communications. SKC's joint venture with AMAT has a sales target of 1.8 trillion KRW and an EBITDA of 1 trillion KRW by 2025.

Meanwhile, SKC plans to collaborate with global companies to enter the cathode material market as well. Through its subsidiary SK Nexilis, which produces copper foil used in batteries, SKC aims to expand its business into cathode and anode materials and become a global materials company. It plans to grow its secondary battery materials business, including copper foil, anode, and cathode materials, from the current 400 billion KRW to 4 trillion KRW by 2025, a tenfold increase.

SKC is also aggressively driving its semiconductor materials business, one of the two pillars of mobility materials. In addition to CMP pads (pads for wafer surface polishing) and blank masks (materials used to imprint circuit patterns on wafers) produced by its existing semiconductor materials division, SKC is preparing to launch a newly developed 'hyperperformance computing glass substrate' to the market. Using hyperperformance computing glass substrates can reduce semiconductor package thickness and power consumption by more than half while significantly increasing data processing capacity. Based on the world's first developed 'hyperperformance computing glass substrate,' SKC plans to achieve sales of over 2 trillion KRW by 2025 in the semiconductor materials business.