LG Energy Solution’s IPO attracts around $80bn bids from international investors

SYDNEY: South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution’s (LGES) $10.7 billion initial public offering (IPO) has received bids worth around $80 billion from international institutional investors, two sources with direct knowledge of the deal said.

The book for the offering, which is the largest ever in South Korea, will close on Wednesday with deal pricing set for Friday.

“We are getting the sense that demand has been good, but we cannot confirm or comment on the specific figures,” a spokesman for LGES said in a statement.

Potential investors were told on Tuesday there was no price sensitivity in the order book, which was already multiple times oversubscribed, said a third source, also with direct knowledge of the deal.

The sources could not be named as the information was not yet public.

At $80 billion, demand is about 13 times more than the $6 billion on offer to institutions, according to the company’s regulatory filings for the IPO.

South Korean media outlets have reported that domestic and foreign institutional investors have placed bids worth around $8.4 trillion.

LGES is LG Chem Ltd’s wholly owned battery subsidiary and supplies electric vehicle (EV) batteries to Tesla Inc and General Motors Co among others.

The IPO could take the company’s value to as much as 70.2 trillion won ($58.80 billion), which would make it South Korea’s third-biggest listed company after Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and SK Hynix Inc.

Reuters reported in December it was likely LGES would price its shares at the top of the range. The price range was set at 257,000 won ($215.27) to 300,000 won ($251.29) apiece when the deal was launched last week.