PI Advanced up for sale in deal estimated at $1 bn

Seoul-based Glenwood Private Equity is putting a majority stake in South Korea's PI Advanced Materials Co., the world's largest polyimide (PI) film manufacturer, up for sale, which is expected to bring in over 1 trillion won ($834 million), according to people with knowledge of the situation on Monday.

Glenwood is seeking to sell its 54% stake in PI Advanced, two years after it acquired its management rights for around 607 billion won. It has hired JPMorgan as the sale advisor.

Companies engaged in the relevant businesses and private equity firms such as The Carlyle Group and KKR & Co. are considering bids for the manufacturer of heat-resistant polyimide films, the sources said.

PI films withstand temperatures ranging from -269° C to 400° C. Due to their excellent thermal resistance and electric characteristics, they are widely used in flexible printed circuit boards for computers and smartphones, as well as in heat-resistant sheets and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays.

Now PIs are enjoying diverse applications in high-growth areas such as batteries and motors of electric vehicles.  

Operating profit at PI Advanced increased 26% on-year to 76 billion won in 2021, on the back of its capacity expansion and robust sales of high-value products. Revenue grew 15% on-year to 302 billion won.

In August of last year, PI Advanced was transferred to the main bourse Kospi from the Kosdaq. A few months later, it was included in the Kospi 200 index, made up of the 200 largest publicly traded stocks in the country.

With a market capitalization of 1.2 trillion won, PI Advanced was established in 2008 as a 50:50 joint venture between SKC Ltd. and Kolon Indutries Inc., two Korean chemical companies.

Write to Jun-ho Cha at chacha@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article.