Asian Tech Press (Dec 01) -- According to the Korea Exchange, battery maker LG Energy Solution, which has applied for listing financing, has passed the preliminary examination for listing eligibility and is one step closer to going public.

After passing the preliminary review for listing eligibility by the Korea Exchange, LG Energy Solution will need to submit the appropriate documents to the Korea Financial Supervisory Service in December and complete the remaining procedures for a possible listing by the end of January next year.

LG Energy Solution, which was spun off from LG Chem's battery business, was officially established on December 1 last year to focus on electric vehicle batteries and other businesses. Thanks to LG Chem's years of experience in the battery business, LG Energy Solution has been a large battery supplier since its inception and is said by Korean media to be the second-largest battery manufacturer in the world after China's CATL.

LG Energy Solution filed for an IPO on the Korea Exchange in June this year and initially planned to complete the listing by the end of this year. However, LG Energy Solution's IPO plans were put on hold due to a defective battery supplied to the GM Bolt electric vehicle, which posed a fire risk and led to a massive recall and battery replacement by GM, with LG bearing the majority of the costs.

Market watchers expect that LG Energy Solution is expected to raise 10-15 trillion won, or US$8.5 billion to US$12.7 billion, through the IPO, and is expected to be valued at 80 trillion won, making it the largest IPO in Korea.