​SK to invest $238 million into Chinese battery parts maker Wason

By Park Sae-jin Posted : November 27, 2018, 18:44 Updated : November 27, 2018, 18:44

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SEOUL -- South Korea's third-largest conglomerate SK Group will make a strategic investment in China's Wason as part of its focused investment in batteries for electric cars. The South Korean company would become the second largest shareholder of the copper foil anode maker.

SK Corp., the group's holding company, said in a statement Tuesday that it has approved the proposed acquisition of about 270 billion won ($238 million) worth of shares in Wason. Copper foil anodes are an important component of batteries including lithium-ion batteries for electric cars.

Wason, established in 2001, has competitiveness in producing superior products, SK said, adding that due to rising demands for electric car components and batteries, the copper foil market is estimated to show an annual average growth of 30 percent by 2025. The group promised to invest more in the field of electric car components. 

SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won has promised to nurture the group's battery business as a sustainable growth engine. On Monday. SK Innovation selected Commerce, a city in Jackson County, Georgia, as the site of its new plant for electric vehicle battery cells in the United States. SKI will invest 1.14 trillion won ($1.01 billion) to build the U.S. plant. Construction would begin in early 2019.
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