이 기사는 2022년 06월 13일 07:58 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

Hahn & Co, the second-largest private equity (PE) firm in Korea, will acquire SKC's polyester (PET) film business, with attention being paid to whether the company’s Suwon factory will be relocated.

The PE firm has started a process to take over the PET film business following a split-off, according to industry sources on Thursday. Hahn & Co signed a stock purchase agreement on Wednesday, with the deal expected to be completed by the end of this year.

The new entity launched after the planned split-off is expected to set up its headquarters in the Suwon plant located in Jangan-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. Since its completion in 1978, the Suwon plant has been operating as a core production facility for SKC’s film business for over 30 years. It has the site area of about 140,000 square meters, which is smaller than the company’s Jincheon plant located in North Chungcheong Province and larger than the Cheonan plant in South Chungcheong Province.

Real estate industry sources said that the appraised value of the plant site in Suwon will be high. The site area, which was an industrial complex located on the outskirts of Suwon when completed, is now converted to a large-sized apartment complex over the last 30 years through a development process.

In the northern area adjacent to the Suwon plant, Suwon SK Skyview apartment complex with 3,500 households was built in 2013. To the east, the Buksuwon Xi apartment complex with some 2,600 households is currently under construction, with a target completion date of 2024.

The official appraised land price of the Suwon plant site was 1,645,000 won per square meter this year, which translates into 230 billion won for the land alone. Considering that the recent sale price of apartments in the neighborhood was around 18 million won per 3.3 square meters, the actual land price will likely be significantly higher than this.

“Even taking into account some factors including the return of the land and the cost of changing the land use, it will be possible to earn more than 500 billion won in profits from apartment sales,” an industry source said. “If the land is put up for sale, it will be sold at a high price in consideration of these aspects.”

Some market insiders said Hahn & Co may relocate the factory after the acquisition as the PE firm may make an early exit through the possible land sale.

It is said that local residents near the Suwon plant also want the plant to be relocated as it may have a positive impact on the apartment price. (Reporting by Byung-keun Kam)