LG Energy to secure $1.36 bn to raise US battery output

LG Energy Solution Ltd. is set to secure $1.36 billion to expand US battery output capacity, joining the fundraising race among South Korean battery makers to increase overseas production bases.

LG Energy’s US unit decided on a rights offering of 788.1 billion won ($681 million), its parent LG Chem Ltd. said in a filing to a South Korean financial regulator. In addition, LG Energy Solution Michigan Inc. plans to raise $681 million through loans, according to the filing.

“The company is slated to use the proceeds as investment sources to meet the increasing demand for electric vehicle batteries and energy storage systems (ESSs),” LG Chem said.

TO EXPAND CAPACITY TO 150 GWH

LG Energy, which operates a battery plant with an annual capacity of 5 gigawatt hours (GWh) in the US state of Michigan, is expected to increase battery output in North America to 150 GWh. It plans to set up another 40 GWh-capacity factory.

The company is building two battery plants of 35 GWh capacity each – one in Ohio and the other in Tennessee – through a joint venture with General Motors Co. In October, LG Energy and Stellantis N.V. launched a 4 trillion won JV to build a 40-GWh capacity battery manufacturing facility in the US.

LG Energy is set to go public on South Korea’s main bourse around the end of January 2022 to raise as much as 10 trillion won in capital.

Its competitor SK On Co. already planned to raise about 3 trillion won in a pre-IPO share sale next year to fund its massive investment plans for overseas factories.

Write to Ye-jin Jun at ace@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.