Kakao joins hands with LG Uplus to enter EV charger market

Kakao Mobility Corp., South Korea’s largest taxi-hailing platform, is set to make inroads into the electric vehicle charging market by setting up a joint venture with LG Uplus Corp., a mobile and broadband service provider.

The two companies have invested 25 billion won ($18.2 million) each in the 50:50 JV, which got the nod from the Fair Trade Commission (FTC).

The antitrust body said on Monday it has approved the venture after the conclusion that it will not significantly restrict competition in the burgeoning EV charging station market and rather spur competition in the sector for prices and service innovation.

The JV is taking over LG Uplus’ existing EV charging service operator, which had a mere 1.1% share in the domestic market as of July last year.

LG Uplus will own 50% of the JV plus one share, thus the venture will be registered as LG Uplus’ subsidiary.

GS and SK groups, South Korea’s two large conglomerates, are leading the EV charging services market as the first and fourth players, respectively. Other business groups such as Naver Corp., the country’s largest online platform, are also expected to crack the market.

“We hope that this joint venture will promote competition in the electric vehicle charging market and resolve the inconveniences of electric vehicle users, leading to further growth in the market,” the FTC said in a statement.

Last October, LG Uplus released prototypes of its first EV chargers.

Write to Sul-Gi Lee at surugi@hankyung.com

Yeonhee Kim edited this article.