Hyundai, LG acquire foreign investment for battery factory in Indonesia

Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, Hyundai Mobis and LG Energy Solution have acquired one trillion won of investment capital from overseas financial institutions for their joint battery cell plant, currently under construction in Indonesia.

The Korean companies announced on Monday that five overseas financial institutions have decided to invest 710 million dollars (approximately 952.4 billion won). The investment will be made for 10 years and the joint companies will draw-down the capitals in order from the five institutions according to their business progress.

This capital is expected to help with the progress of the joint plant construction. Despite worldwide interest rate increases and growing concerns over economic recession, there will be one less risk regarding securing large size financing.

The battery cell plant in Indonesia has gathered much attentions as it is the first joint factory among Korean cooperates built in overseas. While there have been many cases that Korean battery companies partnering with global car companies to build a joint factory, there has been no such case of Korean companies joined hands together.

The four Korean companies had established a battery cell company in Karawang industrial complex near Jakarta in August last year, and planned to invest 1.1 billion dollars. The joint factory is expected to be completed during the first half of next year, and it will start the mass production from the first half of 2024.


Chang-deok Kim drake007@donga.com