LG Chem floats US$300 mln in green bonds

SEOUL, July 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's leading chemicals maker LG Chem Ltd. said Friday it has issued global green bonds worth US$300 million to help bolster the competitiveness of its battery materials business and finance more investments in eco-friendly businesses.

The parent company of major battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. said the U.S. dollar-denominated bonds carry a fixed interest rate of 4.436 percent.

LG Chem said it will fully spend the proceeds from the debt sale in developing materials for electric vehicle batteries, including cathode materials and separation membranes.

Green bonds are meant to raise money to support environmental projects and other eco-friendly infrastructure investments.

LG Chem said it will secure a total of 3.5 trillion won ($2.7 billion) to fund its environmentally friendly projects this year, including the 2.5 trillion won raised through LG Energy's solution's initial public offering in January this year.

Announcing its first-quarter earnings in late April, LG Chem vowed to invest around 4 trillion won in new plants and equipment annually down the road in an effort to boost its competitive edge.

Shares of LG Chem opened sharply stronger on the announcement of the debt sale before the regular market session. LG Chem shares were trading at 549,000 won as of 9:29 a.m., up 4.77 percent from the previous day's close.

(END)