After the government approved the "Yeosu No. 1 Project," the second restructuring in Korea's petrochemical industry, creditors have agreed to provide a repayment deferral worth 4.4 trillion won. The Korea Development Bank (KDB) will inject 450 billion won in new funds for facility investment and other business structure transformations.
KDB said on the 22nd that it held a meeting of creditor financial institutions on the Yeosu No. 1 business restructuring plan under the "Structural Innovation Support Agreement" and discussed these agenda items. On the 20th of this month, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy approved the Yeosu No. 1 business restructuring plan jointly prepared by Yeochun NCC, Lotte Chemical, Hanwha Solutions, and DL Chemical.
First, Hanwha Solutions and DL Chemical decided to integrate their downstream facilities and Lotte Chemical's Yeosu plant basic chemicals business into Yeochun NCC. The integrated entity plans to pursue rationalization of its naphtha cracking center (NCC), vertical integration and high value-added products, and improvement of its financial structure. Shareholders Lotte Chemical, DL Chemical, and Hanwha Solutions plan to transfer their basic chemicals businesses to the integrated entity and concentrate each company's capabilities on core businesses.
The creditor financial institutions reviewed the economic rationality of the business restructuring plan and the effectiveness of the self-rescue plan through due diligence, and discussed financial support measures including the deferral of repayment on existing agreement bonds and support of new investment funds for the business restructuring.
First, the integrated entity Yeochun NCC prepared a self-rescue plan in which Hanwha Solutions and DL Chemical will each participate in a 272.5 billion won paid-in capital increase to improve its financial structure, including repayment of market borrowings. In response, the creditors agreed to consent to the merger, along with the spin-off of the Yeosu plant, contribution in kind, and succession of agreement debt for the implementation of the business restructuring. Repayment of the agreement bonds was deferred until the end of 2029. Separately, KDB will provide 300 billion won needed to implement the business restructuring plan, including high value-added conversion, pipe connections, and information technology (IT) integration.
The creditors also agreed to give unconditional consent to the spin-off of the Yeosu plant and the merger with Yeochun NCC for the surviving Lotte Chemical. Agreement bonds worth 2.2 trillion won will also be deferred until the end of 2029. KDB plans to provide 150 billion won for facility investment related to high value-added conversion.
"The Yeosu National Industrial Complex is a core production base of Korea's petrochemical industry," KDB Chairman Park Sang-jin said. "I ask for the continued cooperation and interest of stakeholders so that this business restructuring can serve as an opportunity to restore the competitiveness of the Yeosu industrial complex and lead the petrochemical industry's resurgence."
