LS Materials to push for IPO this year

Workers at LS Materials produce ultracapacitors. (LS Cable & System)

LS Materials, a secondary battery subsidiary of LS Cable & System under the South Korean conglomerate LS Group, will attempt to go public on Korea’s secondary tech-heavy bourse, the Kosdaq, this year, officials said Monday.

According to LS Cable & System, LS Materials signed a representative management contract with KB Securities and Kiwoom Securities for its initial public offering. The secondary battery maker plans to file for a preliminary review with the Korea Exchange before the end of June.

LS Materials leads the global ultracapacitor market in the category of large products. Ultracapacitors, also known as supercapacitors, are a type of industrial battery. Ultracapacitors store energy in an electrostatic field whereas traditional batteries store energy as part of a chemical reaction.

Ultracapacitors, which have the advantages of high-speed charging and discharging as well as longer battery life, are capable of many more charge cycles than rechargeable batteries. LS Materials has provided ultracapacitors to over 500 customers across the world in the past two decades. According to the company, ultracapacitors are used for wind power turbines, uninterrupted power supply systems and automated guided vehicles.

LS Materials operates an aluminum subsidiary in LS Alsco. LS Alsco is the only Korean company to have received a certification from the US Aluminum Association.

LS Materials logged 162 billion won ($123 million) in revenue and 14.5 billion won in operating profit last year, up 28 percent and 73 percent on year, respectively, on the back of increased exports to North America.

“Ultracapacitors are expected to expand quickly as they can make up for the shortcomings of existing secondary batteries and the demand for aluminum is rapidly increasing centered around electric vehicles,” said Hong Young-ho, CEO of LS Materials.

“We will look to create new opportunities by regarding energy storage systems for EV charging stations and aluminum parts for EVs and hybrid fuel batteries as the three new growth engines,” he added.