Korea's LS Group takes full control over metal smelter JV LS-Nikko Copper

[Source: LS Group]

South Korea’s conglomerate LS Group has ended 23-year-old venture with Japanese partners by taking over the 49.9 percent to command full ownership of Korea-based LS-Nikko Copper specializing in harnessing non-ferrous metal resources for products ranging from electronics to aviation..

LS Corp.’s board on Thursday approved purchase of the remaining stake held by a consortium led by JX Nippon Mining & Metals for 930 billion won ($733.14 million). JX Nippon, a unit of Japan’s top oil refiner Eneos Holdings, holds 80 percent in Japan Korea Joint Smelting, and the rest are held by Marubeni and Mitsui Mining & Smelting.

LS-Nikko Copper was founded in July 1999 as a joint venture with the Japanese consortium. LS Corp. will pay for the half of the sum and issue the rest in bonds to JKL Partners, a local private equity firm, later convertible to 24.9 percent stake. LS is said to have promised an IPO of the metal smelter producer.

The company will be rechristened possibly as LG Metals & Materials and envisions strengthening in materials for semiconductors and lithium-ion batteries.

The company will soon unveil rhodium, the rarest and most valuable precious metal in the world. The silver-white metal is its first new product since rhenium, a silver-gray rare transition metal, in 2011. Rhodium is one of the platinum group metals, and its primary use is in catalytic converters designed to clean vehicle emissions. LS-Nikko posted 354.4 billion won in operating profit, with 9.9 trillion won in sales.

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