LG CNS to go public next year in $5 billion IPO

LG CNS, a subsidiary of LG Group, has applied for an IPO on Korea's main exchange.

LG CNS, an IT solutions arm of LG Group, submitted for preliminary evaluation for its initial public offering (IPO) on Korea's main bourse Friday in what could be the biggest IPO deal within the conglomerate after that of battery arm LG Energy Solution in 2022.

The company said Friday it had submitted a preliminary examination application to the Korea Exchange with KB Securities, the Bank of America and Morgan Stanley as major underwriters.

It aims to go public on Kospi by the first half of next year.

The IPO will bolster LG CNS to fortify its technology in digital transformation in fields of AI, cloud services and smart factories, the company said, which will help strengthen shareholders' value.

Industry watchers prospect that the offering could value LG CNS at as much as 7 trillion won ($5.2 billion), marking the biggest IPO deal within LG Group after LG Energy Solution, which was valued at 70 trillion won in 2022.

The IT solutions company's revenue has been on a continuous uptrend. It posted 5.6 trillion won in revenue and 464 billion won in operating profit last year, marking 12 percent and 20 percent year-over-year increases respectively.

It had attempted at IPO in 2022 but withdrew due to unfavorable market conditions.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]