Drawing Together
On July 19 (local time), OCI Co., South Korea's leading solar power firm, signed a contract with Istanbul-based energy company Ciner Group to sell its chemical affiliate OCI Chemical Corp., which is under its U.S.-based affiliate OCI Enterprises, for US$429 million (491.8 billion won). The deal is anticipated to be completed by the end of Sept. after the final negotiations and approval of the authorities.
The deal also includes the sale of OCI Resources L.P., where OCI Chemical owns a 74.9 percent stake. OCI Resources also owns a 51 percent controlling share in OCI Wyoming LLC, one of the key producers of natural soda ash.
OCI Resources L.P. is a sound enterprise that operates a soda ash producing business in the U.S. Last year, the company posted 4.65 trillion won (US$4.28 billion) in sales and 110 billion won (US$95.29 million) in operating profits. Its market capitalization reached US$376.7 million (434.86 billion won) as of July 17.
OCI Wyoming has at least 66 years of proven mining reserves of Trona, an essential raw material of natural soda ash, in Green River, Wyoming, the U.S.
OCI is expected to put the funds from the deal into the solar power generation business in the U.S. and China. The company recently announced the sale of its shares of OCI Materials.
In the solar power business, the company will enrich the substance rather than to increase the size with “Choice and Concentration.” For a 400 MW solar PV project called the “Alamo Project” in the U.S., OCI is adopting a “Build and Sell” strategy by selling some plants in operation to local companies.
An official from OCI said, “The deal was completed in order to secure financial resources for new businesses in North America, including solar power generation projects. The company is adopting the strategy that focuses on core businesses including solar power, ESS and chemical materials.”