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Lotte Rental CEO Kim Hyun-soo speaks at an online briefing with reporters Monday. (Lotte Rental) |
Lotte Rental, the South Korean car rental service unit under Lotte Group, said Monday that it is looking to take a leap forward to lead future mobility platforms through its market debut on the nation’s main board Kospi this month.
“We have provided various rental services as the industry’s No. 1 company with the goal of creating better lives for our customers,” Kim Hyun-soo, CEO of Lotte Rental, told reporters during an online press briefing. “We’re looking forward to become a mobility leader that can offer new experiences to service users.”
Founded in 1986, the company’s car rental services make up most of its business. It also rents out household items and office machines, operates second-car auctions and provides car sharing services.
Based on the settled business portfolio, Lotte Rental has been the local car rental industry’s leader. The company has logged a market share of 22 percent in the country as of the first quarter this year, Kim said.
Its sales rose 8.7 percent on-year to mark 588.9 billion won ($510.8 million) in the January-March period, while operating income and net profit came to 49.2 billion won and 18.6 billion won, up 49.1 percent and 144.7 percent from a year earlier, respectively.
The car rental service unit plans to secure its business capability for future mobility by constructing a platform solely for electric-vehicle sharing services and making investments into autonomous driving technology.
Under the plan, the 35-year-old Lotte Rental aims to raise up to 850.9 billion won through the initial public offering by offering around 14.42 million new common shares in the price range of 47,000-59,000 won.
The exact share price will be fixed after the two-day book-building process wraps up Wednesday. The public subscription is scheduled to be held on Aug. 9-10, while Korea Investment & Securities and NH Investment & Securities are the lead underwriters. KB Securities is also a member of the underwriter group.
Meanwhile, the car rental service provider became a Lotte Group affiliate in June 2015 as the conglomerate took over the firm from telecom giant KT. Lotte Rental’s listing is anticipated to become the group’s first IPO in three years since Lotte Data Communication’s market debut in July 2018. Its biggest shareholder is Hotel Lotte with a 47.06 percent stake.
By Jie Ye-eun (
yeeun@heraldcorp.com)
