Hanwha Group will inject an additional 500 billion won into purchasing shares of Korea Aerospace Industries (047810) (KAI), raising its stake to the mid-15% range. The group is continuing to pour capital into acquiring KAI as it seeks to realize its vision of building a Korean version of SpaceX.
Hanwha Systems (272210) held a board meeting on the 8th and disclosed that it will purchase KAI shares on the open market within a limit of 500 billion won by year-end. As Hanwha Aerospace (012450) exhausted nearly 1 trillion won in investment funds ahead of schedule that day, Hanwha Systems takes over the baton. Hanwha Aerospace began openly accumulating KAI shares in early May and, in just two months, waged a rapid campaign to buy up 1 trillion won worth of stock.
KAI stakes held by Hanwha affiliates are as follows: Hanwha Aerospace with 9,652,845 shares (9.90%), Hanwha Systems with 1,487,530 shares (1.53%), and Hanwha Aerospace USA with 986,625 shares (1.01%). If Hanwha Systems buys approximately 3.12 million additional shares by spending 500 billion won, its stake will rise to 4.73%.
Hanwha Group's overall KAI stake will increase from 12.44% to 15.64%. This will further solidify its position as the second-largest shareholder, following the Export-Import Bank of Korea (26.41%), KAI's largest shareholder.
This decision to expand the stake came immediately after Hanwha Group announced a record 55 trillion won investment in the aerospace and artificial intelligence (AI) industries through 2040. Earlier, Hanwha Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan personally announced large-scale investment plans on the 3rd, including an independent launch vehicle and the construction of space and defense AI data centers.
Hanwha's vision of taking the lead in becoming a space power requires a close relationship with KAI in terms of preventing duplicate investment and creating synergy. Indeed, Hanwha cited "strengthening business cooperation" as the reason for acquiring KAI shares.
If KAI's domestic aircraft manufacturing capabilities are added to Hanwha Aerospace's aircraft engine technology and Hanwha Systems' avionics capabilities, the completeness of a Korean defense value chain can also be maximized.
An official in the defense industry said, "As seen in the Russia-Ukraine war and the U.S.-Iran war, the global defense market is growing larger, and in the not-too-distant future, the battlefield will inevitably expand to space and beyond. This is a time when a national flagship space and defense company is needed."
