By Kim Yoo-chul
Staff Reporter
LS Industrial Systems has created a joint venture with Sauter Building Control Schweiz AG of Switzerland.
"LS Industrial will hold 90 percent of the stake in the joint venture, while Sauter will nominate one board director out of the total five," an LS spokeswoman said Wednesday.
"The latest deal will also help us achieve 100 billion won in orders in green building solutions (GBS) by 2015."
The new entity will have starting capital of 3.4 billion won ― 3 billion won from LS Industrial and 400 million won from Sauter. The Swiss company will invest the amount within a month after the agreement goes into effect.
Sauter, headquartered in Basel, is the leading supplier of intelligent building systems in Europe. In 2008, it realized 261 million euro or 406.4 billion won in total sales.
The announcement came months after LS Industrial purchased Sauter Korea for over 1.14 billion won in October last year.
"The two companies plan to expand the mutual partnership from GBS to green energy solutions. We will also use Sauter's global networks for further business expansion," the spokeswoman said.
LS has been working on sharpening its competitive edge in green businesses, including eco-friendly building system-related fields. Since November 2008, it has acquired Planet, LS Power Semitech and Metronix.
With the new pitches in eco-focused businesses, it has been diversifying business portfolios and expanding its global footprints especially in undersea cables.
"Considering LS Industrial's corporate focus on greener businesses at a time when the word 'green' has emerged as the top buzzword for industries, we are maintaining a 'buy' rating for LS Industrial," Kim Ji-san, an analyst at local brokerage Kium Securities, said.