SK On, an electric vehicle battery maker from South ore, has raised about 2 trillion won ($1.51 billion) from private equity firms, pushing the company’s valuation to around 20 trillion won ($15.1 billion), local media reported on Thursday.
The electric vehicle battery unit of energy group SK Innovation Co Ltd (096770.KS) has been in talks with a local private equity consortium that includes EastBridge Partners, Korea Investment Partners and Stella Investment, a source said.
SK On had previously spoken with global private equity firms, including Carlyle Group Inc (CG.O) and BlackRock Inc (BLK.N), but talks stalled over the Russia-Ukraine war and rising interest rates, the newspaper said.
Last month, SK On secured a $2 billion loan to finance its factory in Hungary. Previously, CATL and EVE have also announced that they will set up a production facility in Hungary to supply electric vehicle manufacturers from Europe. NIO will also set up a production facility in Hungary that will specifically manufacture battery swap stations.
SK On is known to supply several of its clients including Ford, Hyundai and Volkswagen AG and has production sites in the United States, South Korea, China, Hungary and Turkey.
