KT Submarine starts fresh as LS Marine Solution

Employees of LS Marine Solution pledge a new beginning at their Busan office, Thursday. Courtesy of LS Cable & Systems

By Kim Hyun-bin

LS Cable & System announced that it has acquired a 24.3 percent stake (6,295,558 shares) in KT Submarine (KTS) from KT for 44.9 billion won ($33.2 million), securing a total 45.69 percent stake and becoming the largest shareholder, according to the company, Thursday.

At the same time, KTS held a special shareholders' meeting the same day to approve agenda items related to changes in articles of incorporation, including changing the company name to LS Marine Solution.

LS Cable has completed all acquisition procedures in just about four months since April when it secured the management stake through a call option contract.

"Through the acquisition of KTS, our underwater construction capabilities have been reinforced, enabling us to provide turnkey solutions from underwater cable production to construction," an LS Cable official said.

Through the company's involvement in underwater power cable projects, a key growth driver in the first half of this year, and efforts to optimize assets, KTS achieved its highest operating and net profits of the past 20 years.

According to the industry, there are expectations that the expansion of domestic offshore wind farms and the West Coast transmission network construction project under the 10th Long-Term Transmission and Transformation Facility Plan will also present opportunities for KTS.

In addition, LS Cable announced last week its intention to invest approximately 155.5 billion won over the next two years to enhance its submarine cable facility.

The expansion project at the Donghae facility, located on the east coast, aims to address the surging demand for submarine cables driven by the escalating number of offshore wind farm initiatives worldwide, the company noted.

This strategic investment is scheduled to be executed by September 2025.