Kolon Group expands investment in mobility sector

Kolon Mobility Group CEO Lee Kyu-ho

South Korea’s Kolon Group is expanding its presence in the bourgeoning mobility sector.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system on Monday, Kolon Corp., the group’s holding company, disclosed a plan to invest 7 billion won ($5.3 million) in its subsidiary PAPA Mobility.

The investment is part of an equity capital increase totaling 8.02 billion won by PAPA Mobility. Including this recent equity capital increase, Kolon’s total investment in the subsidiary amounts to 20.5 billion won.

PAPA Mobility operates as a transportation service provider, offering vehicle-hailing services based on information technology platforms.

The participation in the equity capital increase is a preemptive investment to increase the subsidiary’s vehicles, in accordance with the approval from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said a Kolon official.

PAPA Mobility currently operates 150 vehicles and received approval from the ministry last month to increase the fleet by an additional 50 vehicles.

Upon completion of the investment on November 30, Kolon’s stake in PAPA Mobility will increase to 87.2 percent. Kolon Group Honorary Chairman Lee Woong-yeul is the second largest shareholder of PAPA Mobility.