LG Display (034220.KS) will sell an idle plant and the land it sits on in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, for 150 billion won ($104 million). The sale is intended to improve asset efficiency by disposing of production facilities that stopped operating as the company scaled back its liquid crystal display business.
Komico (183300.KQ) said in a regulatory filing on the 19th that its subsidiary Mico Ceramics agreed to acquire the land and buildings from LG Display for 150 billion won, according to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 20th. The deal covers 183,565 square meters of land and buildings with a total floor area of 389,540 square meters. The purchase price equals 14.56% of Komico's total consolidated assets, and the acquisition is scheduled for completion on Feb. 19 next year.
LG Display halted some Gumi production lines in 2017 and 2018 after low-cost competition from Chinese rivals eroded profitability in its LCD business. The company then moved to sell idle assets, putting its P2 and P3 plants on the market in 2020. Those plant sites were sold last year to Mico Power, an affiliate of the Mico Group. LG Display also sold a TV-use LCD plant in Guangzhou, China, last year as it restructures its business around organic light-emitting diode displays.
Mico Ceramics plans to use the facilities to expand production capacity for semiconductor equipment components such as ceramic heaters and electrostatic chucks. The company said it would put the land and buildings to use in phases in line with its medium- to long-term plans to increase output.