S.Korea's SKC to sell polyurethane raw material unit for $304 mn

South Korean chemical material company SKC Ltd. is selling its unit for raw materials of polyurethane (PU), a chemical substance.

The company’s board of directors on Thursday in a meeting decided to sell 100% of SK Pucore to domestic alternative investment fund Glenwood Private Equity (PE) for 410.3 billion won ($304.3 million). The sale also includes Woori Fine Chem’s optical PU material division that SKC acquired in 2019. 

Starting with a stock purchase agreement, SKC plans to complete the deal this year.

Since 1991, SK Pucore has manufactured polyol, a raw material for PU. The affiliate rapidly expanded production bases in countries like the US, China, Poland and Mexico and oversees both axes of SKC’s chemical unit along with SK PIC Global.

The sale is part of SKC’s plan to transform into a global material ESG (environmental, social and governance) solutions company focusing on secondary batteries, semiconductors and green materials. SK Pucore had to decide whether to make additional large-scale investments due to higher market demand.

Glenwood PE is expected to raise the global competitiveness of its PU raw material unit by making more investments after acquiring SK Pucore.

Write to Jae-Fu Kim at hu@hankyung.com