 |
Samsung SDI chief executive Park Sang-jin (right) shakes hands with Nichicon’s president Shigeo Yoshida after signing an energy storage system supply deal in May in Seoul. (Samsung SDI) |
Samsung SDI, a leading battery maker that is scheduled to merge with Samsung Group’s materials business arm Cheil Industries, is aiming to become a top materials and battery company.
“Samsung SDI expects the merger to create synergy effects as it will be able to reinforce the firm’s battery business by utilizing the materials technology of Cheil Industries,” a Samsung SDI official said.
Cheil Industries will be able to make use of the battery company’s global networks and marketing capability, and will be able to expand its synthetic resin business into the global car market, he added.
The two companies will officially merge in July, and the name of the new firm will be Samsung SDI, according to the battery maker.
Samsung SDI has maintained its top position in the global market for secondary cells, often used for mobile gadgets, for the past four years with its market share standing at 25.8 percent in 2013, according to international research institute B3.
Samsung SDI is in talks with leading global carmakers, including those from China, the largest electric car market, to supply batteries for electric cars.
In January, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Shaanxi province and auto parts maker Anqing Ring New Group in China to build a battery plant, for which the Korean firm will invest $600 billion over the next five years.
The battery firm has also been leading the world’s energy storage system market, winning awards for its superior performance and safety from world-renowned market research institutes such as Frost & Sullivan.
Its clients for the ESS include Japanese capacitor manufacturer Nichicon, German energy firm WEMAG AG and Britain’s power supplier UK Power Networks.
By Kim Young-won (
woen0102@heraldcorp.com)
