SK IET aims to complete IPO within H1

Logo of SK IE Technology

By Anna J. Park

SK IE Technology (SK IET), a subsidiary of SK's battery maker SK Innovation, is speeding up its initial public offering (IPO), aiming to complete the process within the first half of this year.

According to industry sources Tuesday, the battery and smart device materials maker could debut on the benchmark KOSPI as early as mid-May.

SK IET, which produces lithium-ion battery separators and transparent polyimide films, submitted required documents for the Korea Exchange's preliminary IPO review process at the end of last year. Once the preliminary review is completed, the full-fledged IPO process will start, which usually takes a few weeks.

Stock-allotment subscription surveys among institutional investors are expected to start around April. The company's offering price band will be decided based on last year's performance.

SK IET is now the world's top producer of lithium-ion battery separators, operating manufacturing plants in both Europe and China. The firm's annual production capacity stands at around 870 million square meters currently, but is expected to grow rapidly to 1.87 billion square meters by the end of 2023.

The firm's corporate value was estimated at around 4 trillion won to 5 trillion won ($3.5 billion to $4.5 billion) last year, yet its market cap has risen recently to around 7 trillion won to 8 trillion won, due to a shortage of battery separators in the global EV market.

Since being spun off from SK Innovation in April 2019, the firm achieved 263 billion won in sales and a net profit of 63.7 billion won as of the end of 2020.

Mirae Asset Daewoo and JPMorgan are jointly managing the IPO procedures, while Korea Investment & Securities and Credit Suisse are also cooperating as underwriters.