SK Innovation Redefines Strategies for Battery Business in China

SK Innovation is looking for news business opportunities in the battery business in China through its newly established battery subsidiary.

SK Innovation announced on February 2 that the company has renamed SK Battery China Holdings, a battery subsidiary in China that was estabished in November last year, to Blue Dragon Energy on April 30.

The board of directors of SK Innovation also decided to invest 86.4 billion won in the Chinese subsidiary.

SK Innovation established the new corporation in an effort to find a breakthrough for its struggling electric car battery business in China. SK Innovation operates BESK, a joint venture with BAIC in China, but BESK has been shut down for a long time due to a subsidy discrimination policy. In addition, SK Innovation hit a snag in the construction of a battery cell plant for electric cars in China.

SK Innovation seems to have pushed forward with the establishment of the new corporation in order to diversify its strategies for the battery business in China, which have thus far been oriented toward direct investment.

"The purpose of the new investment has not yet been determined, but it is aimed at finding and developing various business opportunities in the Chinese battery market, including financial investment," an SK Innovation official said.