SK Holdings, Geely Automobile to create fund to invest in green mobility projects

SK Holdings Co., the holding entity of South Korea’s third largest conglomerate SK Group, has agreed with China’s No. 1 finished car maker Geely Automobile to jointly launch a fund that will invest in eco-friendly car projects as part of its efforts to enhance its green mobility push.

Details about the terms including the fund value were not disclosed but the fund is estimated to be worth some hundreds of millions of dollars, according to industry sources on Monday.

Through the fund, SK Holdings is expected to strengthen partnership with Geely in various green mobility projects ranging from hydrogen power to electric vehicles.

“SK Holdings is discussing various ways for cooperation with Geely Automobile,” said a company official, adding that the two have not decided yet which projects the fund will invest in.

The latest move is part of SK Group’s green push that currently focuses on hydrogen business. It recently launched a hydrogen business committee made up of 20 experts from affiliated units like SK E&S and SK Innovation and directly led by the CEO for quick decision making. It also announced a 1.6 trillion won ($1.45 billion) investment in U.S. hydrogen energy firm Plug Power.

SK expects the latest partnership would bring more green mobility opportunities in China. Geely Automobile last month partnered with battery maker Farasis to set up a EV battery joint-venture as part of efforts to ramp up its EV vehicle output.

SK Holdings shares fell 4.23 percent to close at 340,000 won on Tuesday in Seoul trading.

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