SKC in talks for $310M sale of fine ceramic business

SKC CEO Park Won-cheol speaks during the SKC Tech Day event held in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul on Nov. 23 last year. [SKC]

SKC is in talks with Hahn & Company, a Korean private equity investment firm, to sell its fine ceramic business.

The price is estimated to be about 400 billion won ($310 million), according to multiple local reports.

"SK enpulse recently signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Hahn & Company and is looking at various options regarding the sell-off of the fine ceramic business," SKC said in a regulatory filing. "But nothing specific has been decided."

SK enpulse is a semiconductor component maker 100 percent owned by SKC.

The fine ceramic division, which makes semiconductor components including silicon, quartz, and alumina, accounts for 70 percent of SK enpulse's total sales.

SKC has been bolstering its efforts to transform a major part of its business portfolio from chemicals to components sectors, with a focus on materials for secondary batteries and semiconductors.

It is also in the process of selling off SK pucore, its fully-owned subsidiary that makes polyols, a raw material for polyurethane.

On Friday, SKC signed an agreement with Helios Private Equity promising that it will buy 35.8 percent of ISC, a semiconductor test equipment maker. It will also invest 175 billion won to buy new shares that ISC will sell through a rights offering, which will raise the total percentage to 45 percent.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]