Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, February 10 (Reuters)-SK On, the electric vehicle battery subsidiary of South Korea's SK Innovation, has begun a new round of financing with a target of 2 trillion won to 3 trillion won ($1.6 billion to $2.4 billion, about 10.76 billion to 16.14 billion yuan), according to Reuters.

The financing will be mainly aimed at international investors and is scheduled to be completed as early as the end of March, according to people familiar with the matter.

In December, SK On raised 2 trillion won (currently about 10.76 billion yuan) from SK Innovation and 800 billion won (currently about 4.304 billion yuan) from financial investors such as South Korean private equity. In the round, the company was valued at 22 trillion won (currently about 118.36 billion yuan), according to one of the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A spokesman for SK On declined to comment on the valuation but called it part of last year's fundraising. SK On expects private equity funds to raise an additional 500 billion won (currently about 2.69 billion yuan) this year, and the amount and timetable for the latest fundraising have not yet been set.

On Tuesday, local time, SK Innovation said it would focus its spending on growing SK on this year, even though the business took longer to turn a profit than expected. CTOnews.com learned that SK Innovation noted that SK On accounted for 15 per cent of group revenue in the fourth quarter.

The battery division lost money in 2022 due to challenges such as global chip shortages, rising raw material prices, rising labour costs, adverse exchange rates and delays in production at factories in Hungary and the United States. The company's chief financial officer said on Tuesday that he expected to be profitable in 2024.

In November, SK Innovation said SK On would eventually launch an initial public offering (IPO) under an agreement with financial investors.

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.