Lotte Chemical Nears Acquisition of Iljin Materials... "Participation in Capital Increase of US Corporation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Lotte Chemical is on the verge of acquiring Iljin Materials, a copper foil manufacturer.

On the 28th, Lotte Chemical held a board meeting and approved the acquisition of an additional 100 shares of Lotte Battery Materials USA (LBM), a U.S. battery materials investment company, for 275 billion KRW.

Lotte Chemical explained, "LBM has decided on a paid-in capital increase to secure investment funds necessary for acquiring shares of Iljin Materials Co., Ltd., which is being pursued to expand the battery materials business." They added, "The acquisition of the ongoing business has not been finalized at this point, and related disclosures will be made once confirmed."

However, industry insiders predict that the acquisition is virtually confirmed since the agenda to secure acquisition funds has passed.

Iljin Materials is a company that produces copper foil, a core material for secondary batteries. Copper foil is a thin copper sheet with a thickness of 10 μm (micrometers, one-millionth of a meter) or less, considered a key material used in the anode current collectors of electric vehicle and energy storage system (ESS) secondary batteries.

Lotte Chemical has set a goal to invest a total of 4 trillion KRW in the battery materials sector by 2030 and achieve annual sales of 5 trillion KRW, expanding related investments accordingly.