Hydrogen fuel tank maker Iljin Hysolus eyes August IPO

South Korea’s only mass-producer of hydrogen tube trailers, Iljin Hysolus Co., previously known as Iljin Composites, plans to be listed on the local bourse Kospi next month.

Sources said that the company filed for an IPO registration on July 9 to Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Its registration statement said that a total of 10.89 million shares will be publicly offered within the unit price range of 30,300-37,300 won ($26.45-$32.56), which will raise 406.3 billion won ($354.6 million) for the company at maximum.

Its market cap right after the IPO will be around 1.1-1.35 trillion won ($0.96-1.13 billion), depending on the offering price of its shares. Iljin Hysolus will confirm the offering price on Aug. 3-4 based on the demand forecast among the institutional investors. The subscription period for retail investors is Aug. 11-12.

The company said that the funds raised from the IPO will be mainly used for the expansion of hydrogen fuel tank manufacturing facilities.

Established in 1999, Iljin Hysolus is Korea’s leading hydrogen fuel tank and hydrogen tube trailer manufacturer. Iljin Diamond Co. currently owns an 87% stake in the company.

LONG-TERM PLANS IN THE HYDROGEN SECTOR

Iljin Hysolus specializes in providing hydrogen mobility solutions. The company’s main product had largely been hydrogen tubes used on hydrogen-powered vehicles. It is the exclusive supplier of hydrogen tubes for Hyundai Motor Co.’s hydrogen vehicle Nexo that uses three tubes per vehicle.

With Hyundai Motor planning to invest $2.6 billion by 2025 to annually produce 130,000 units of hydrogen vehicles, Iljin Hysolus’ revenue in the segment is expected to grow as well.

The company also makes hydrogen tube trailers, which are container-shaped packs of hydrogen tubes for refueling hydrogen cars. Its latest hydrogen tube trailer product, named Type 4, is composed of 40 hydrogen fuel tanks in a single container to transport a total of 500kg of hydrogen, enough to fuel 240 units of hydrogen vehicles.

“Our new Type 4 trailer stands out in the market for its hydrogen storage efficiency, as it can withstand a pressure level twice as high as the competitor products,” said Iljin Hysolus CEO Ahn Hong-sang.

Iljin Hysolus expanded into the hydrogen tube trailer market last year. The Hydrogen tube trailer, highlighted the company, is one of the most efficient gas transfer systems and is essentially a mobile refueling station.

“The global hydrogen tube trailer market is projected to grow up to $1 billion from the current $300 million. The trailer, which can transport large volumes of hydrogen easily, is a more cost-efficient way to provide hydrogen than the hydrogen charging stations,” added the CEO.

The CEO also said that the company will be launching different types and sizes of hydrogen fuel tanks for a variety of transportation systems, including ships, drones and trucks. The company earlier this month signed a deal with Samsung Heavy Industries Co. to jointly develop hydrogen fuel cell-powered ships.  

“Hydrogen fuel cell-powered ships are likely to grow presence in the market amid the toughening environmental regulations by the International Maritime Organization (IMO),” Ahn said.

Iljin Hysolus’ operating profit last year was 15 billion won ($13.1 million), growing by 28.2% from 2019, on revenue of 113.5 billion won ($98.9 million).

Write to Dong-hyun Kim at 3code@hankyung.com
Daniel Cho edited this article.