Doosan Robotics to merge with Doosan Bobcat

[Courtesy of Doosan Group]

The Doosan Group will merge Doosan Robotics Inc. with Doosan Bobcat Inc. after spinning off its construction equipment business from Doosan Enerbility Co. The energy arm is expected to be able to focus on its core energy business, including sectors such as nuclear power and gas turbines.

Three Doosan Group companies - Doosan Enerbility, Doosan Bobcat, and Doosan Robotics - held board meetings on Thursday and approved a governance restructuring plan including a subsidiary spin-off, a merger, and a comprehensive stock exchange. The restructuring aims to realign Doosan Group’s core businesses into clean energy and smart machines as well as semiconductors and advanced materials.

Doosan Enerbility and Doosan Fuel Cell Co. will lead the group’s clean energy business, covering eco-friendly energy fields such as nuclear power, SMRs, turbines, wind power, hydrogen, ammonia, and recycling. The merger of Doosan Bobcat and Doosan Robotics will bolster the group’s smart machines business, as the duo are renowned for small construction machinery and collaborative robots globally.

Doosan Tesna Inc. will lead the semiconductors and advanced materials business, encompassing electronic materials for semiconductors, mobile phones, and electric vehicle batteries.

With the merger, Doosan Robotics will tap into Doosan Bobcat’s extensive distribution channels in North America and Europe. Doosan Robotics currently has around 60 networks in Europe and North America, whereas Doosan Bobcat has around 1,500. Doosan Robotics plans to leverage Doosan Bobcat’s global parts distribution centers, logistics infrastructure, and services to rapidly build service capabilities in advanced markets.

Doosan Bobcat, which focuses on automation and unmanned solutions, plans to integrate Doosan Robotics’ technology into new product offerings, while joint research and development efforts will streamline investments in automation and unmanned technology.

The merger is also expected to bolster the financial capabilities of both entities. Doosan Bobcat is a significant profit driver with over 1 trillion won ($728 million) in operating profit since 2022.

Doosan Bobcat will be delisted and transferred under Doosan Robotics. The restructuring plan involves separating Doosan Enerbility into a business entity and a new corporation holding 46 percent of Doosan Bobcat shares. Existing shareholders will receive shares in both entities based on their holdings. Doosan Robotics will acquire all shares of the new corporation and conduct a stock exchange with Doosan Bobcat. The exchange ratio is set at 1:0.63, with the split-merger scheduled for October 29th, 2024, and the stock exchange for November 5th, while new shares are expected to be listed by November 25th.

By focusing Doosan Enerbility on core sectors, Doosan Group anticipates enhancing shareholder value and bolstering business sector competitiveness. The restructuring also relieves Doosan Enerbility of Doosan Bobcat’s 1.2 trillion won debt.