Hoban completes acquisition of Taihan known for extra-high voltage cables

SEOUL -- Hoban, a mid-sized conglomerate in South Korea, completed the acquisition of Taihan Electric Wire, a domestic power cable and grid infrastructure company capable of producing an ultra-high-voltage power cable system that has been coveted by Chinese companies. Demands for extra-high voltage cables are growing thanks to a global clean energy campaign to reduce greenhouse emissions.

Taihan said in a regulatory filing on May 18 that Hoban became the largest shareholder of the country's second-largest electric wire producer. In a deal in March with IMM PE, a private equity fund based in Seoul, Hoban agreed to purchase a 40 percent stake in Taihan for 252 billion won ($223 million).

Taihan said its board and shareholders endorsed Na Hyung-kyun as its new CEO and changed the company's English name from Taihan Electric Wire to Taihan Cable & Solution by expanding its business scope to encompass housing construction and real estate development. Hoban aims to nurture Taihan as a new growth engine. Extra-high voltage cables are used to connect with an electrical grid, which is a wide-area transmission network that makes it possible to trade high volumes of electricity across great distances.

Along with LS Cable & Systems, Taihan is a major producer of ultra-high-pressure power cables which were designated as South Korea's core national technology in 2019 to prevent a possible technology leakage. Foreigners should report to the government when they export core technologies or take over companies that possess core technologies.
Lim Chang-won Reporter cwlim34@ajunews.com

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