This photo taken on Sept. 22, 2020, shows the corporate logo of South Korean oil refiner Hyundai Oilbank Co. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, South Korea’s 15th largest conglomerate by assets, said Thursday that its refining affiliate Hyundai Oilbank Co. plans to file for a preliminary screening within this year to go public with local bourse operator Korea Exchange.
Hyundai Oilbank aims to trade its shares on South Korea’s main KOSPI market in the first half of 2022, the group said.
The proposed initial public offering is the third of its kind after the refiner failed to go public in 2012 and 2019.
In 2012, a tumble in oil prices thwarted Hyundai Oilbank’s IPO.
Hyundai Oilbank suspended the IPO process again in 2019 when Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co. sold a 17 percent stake in the refiner to Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil firm Saudi Aramco for US$1.2 billion in a pre-IPO placement.
Ahead of its IPO, Hyundai Oilbank has sold an undisclosed stake to U.S. software company Palantir Technologies Inc. for $20 million.
HHI Group did not provide any further details, citing a confidentiality agreement.
Palantir Technologies, a public company specialized in big data analytics, has invested in Hyundai Oilbank as it has highly assessed the possible growth of petrochemicals and hydrogen business on which Hyundai Oilbank has been focusing, HHI Group said.
With the latest investment, Hyundai Oilbank and Palantir Technologies will set up a long-term cooperation relationship, the group said.
Hyundai Oilbank hopes that it will establish a big data platform to digitalize its whole business process in cooperation with Palantir Technologies, HHI Group said.
(Yonhap)
