SK Files For IPO

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SEOUL – SK Lubricants filed documents last week seeking eligibility to conduct an initial public stock offering.

The action comes two years after the company halted a previous IPO plan and suggests the worlds biggest API Group III base stock supplier has ambitions for further growth.

South Korea’s securitiesexchange operatorKorea Exchange (KRX)saidSK Lubricantsfiledan application Thursday to be examined for listing eligibility. The result ofthe examinationwill be announcedby 12th June.

SK Lubricants hasappointed Korea Investment & Securities and Samsung Securities as lead managers for its initial public offering, according to documents made public by KRX. Companies awaiting decisions on such applications are discouraged for communicating publicly about them, and SK did not respond to a request for comment.

Seoul-based SK Lubricantsisa wholly owned subsidiary of South Koreas top oil refiner, SK Innovation, which also has operations in chemicals and trading.

SK Lubricants operates a base oil plant in Ulsan, South Korea – part of it a joint venture with JX Nippon Oil & Energy. It also has a 490,000 t/y joint venture Group III plant with Pertamina in Indonesia and a 640,000 t/y Group II/III joint venture with Repsol in Spain.

The stock market listing plan came after SK Lubricants operating profit rebounded in 2014,while its parent company SK Innovation recorded an annual operating loss for the first time in 37 year.SKLubricants recordedaround3 trillion won (U.S. $ 2.7 billion)ofrevenue and290 billion won operating profit last year.

SK previously announced plans to conduct a stock offering in 2012. It shelved that plan the following year after its operating profit sharply decreased.