S.Korea Inc. ramps up cash reserves amid economic woes

Daesung Holdings, POSCO and SK On seek to raise cash via divestment of assets or through a US government program

South Korean notes (Courtesy of Getty Images)
South Korean notes (Courtesy of Getty Images)
Ik-Hwan Kim 1
2023-01-03 19:28:40 lovepen@hankyung.com
Corporate investment

South Korean companies are rushing to raise cash from the beginning of the new year amid growing concerns over a global economic downturn and market uncertainty.

Daesung Holdings Co., a mobile service provider that operates the videotelephone app Skype in Korea, announced on Jan. 3 it has sold 100,000 shares in Seoul City Gas Co. (SCG) for 40.1 billion won ($31.4 million) to secure funds for new businesses. Through the divestment, Daesung Holdings' SCG ownership dropped from 17.6% to 15.6%.

The mobile service company also dumped SCG shares in August and November of last year, raising 65.7 billion won via block deals.  

On the other hand, steel giant POSCO is planning to issue corporate bonds worth up to 800 billion won. The company will use the proceeds to repay part of its 2.02 trillion won debts, the maturity of which comes this year.

Leading battery maker SK On Co. is also set to raise $4 billion in March via BlueOval SK, its joint venture with Ford Motor Company, through a US government loan program. The program, called Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM), provides loans at an interest rate similar to that of the US Treasury.

Ultium Cells LLC, the JV between Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. and General Motors Co., attracted $2.5 billion via the program last December to expand lithium-ion battery production capacity across the US.

Write to Ik-Hwan Kim at lovepen@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.
#South Korean companies #South Korean market 2023 #South Korea economy #Daesung Holdings Korea #Seoul City Gas #POSCO corporate bond #SK On-Ford JV #BlueOval SK

Korea Inc. accumulates cash as economic downturn deepens

Korea Inc. accumulates cash as economic downturn deepens

(Courtesy of Yonhap) South Korean companies, led by the country’s most valuable firm Samsung Electronics Co., have rushed to accumulate cash as interest rates kept rising while Asia’s fourth-biggest economy was losing steam.Cashable assets held by the country’s 20 largest comp

Select Korean companies seek to raise cash reserves

Select Korean companies seek to raise cash reserves

Hana Bank headquarters office (Courtesy of Yonhap) Several corporations have recently sold stocks and real estate apparently to boost liquidity and repay maturing debts amid the "three high" era of high inflation, interest rates and foreign exchange rates.The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS)

Korean firms rush to sell real estate to raise cash

Korean firms rush to sell real estate to raise cash

Lotte could secure up to $150 million from the sale of its Pakistan subsidiary South Korean companies are selling real estate and subsidiaries to raise cash as accelerating inflation, rising interest rates and the soft won all point to an economic downturn. Lotte Chemical Co., a chemical materi

Korea to raise cash support on foreign investments in key sectors

Korea to raise cash support on foreign investments in key sectors

Kim Dong-yeon (right), governor of Gyeonggi-do, South Korea’s most populous province surrounding Seoul, shakes hands with CEOs of foreign companies after a roundtable at the Global Investment Summit, an event to attract foreign investments, on July 6, 2022, in the capital (Courtesy of Yonhap
(* comment hide *}