This article appeared in the capital markets compass "Signal" on May 24, 2026, at 03:00.
Doosan Group (000150) has effectively secured the acquisition of SK Siltron, the world's third-largest semiconductor wafer manufacturer, accelerating its push to build an "AI infrastructure value chain" spanning semiconductors, physical AI and clean energy. With the deal valued at 5 trillion won, the financing arrangements that drew market attention are also reaching their final stages.
According to investment banking (IB) and corporate sources on Sunday, Doosan Group will soon sign a stock purchase agreement (SPA) with SK Group (034730) for management control of SK Siltron. The acquisition target is the 70.6 percent stake held by SK Group. The structure also reportedly includes the 29.4 percent stake held by SK Group Chairman Tae-won Choi, bringing the total acquisition to 100 percent of the shares.
Given the 5 trillion won scale of the deal, Doosan's financing plan has been carefully crafted. The structure combines state-run bank support with the monetization of the group's own equity. Korea Development Bank, together with Woori Bank, will provide 2.5 trillion won in acquisition financing. The remaining roughly 2.5 trillion won is expected to be covered by funds raised internally by the group. Doosan Corp. is estimated to have already secured more than 2 trillion won in cash through measures including a price return swap (PRS) on Doosan Robotics (454910) shares and the monetization of its own assets.
The SK Siltron acquisition reflects Doosan Group's sweeping pivot of its future growth engines from traditional heavy industry to advanced semiconductor materials and components. Doosan has a DNA of fundamentally reshaping the group through bold mergers and acquisitions (M&A) at decisive moments. The trajectory of the group's decades-long history and its major deals stand as testimony.
From the mid-to-late 1990s, Doosan successively divested its consumer goods businesses. It boldly disposed of more than 10 major consumer operations, including Oriental Brewery, Coca-Cola, its 3M stake, Burger King (Doosan Food) and its liquor business (Chum Churum). The massive cash secured at that time is regarded as the powerful funding source that propelled Doosan's leap into a heavy industry group in the 2000s.
Drawing on those proceeds, Doosan acquired Korea Heavy Industries & Construction (now Doosan Enerbility) in 2001. It then took over Koryo Industrial Development (Doosan Construction) in 2004, Daewoo Heavy Industries & Machinery (Doosan Infracore) in 2005 and Mitsui Babcock (Doosan Babcock) in 2006, securing core technologies in construction, machinery and plants. In 2007, it invested $4.9 billion — the largest overseas M&A by a Korean company at the time — to acquire three business units from U.S.-based Ingersoll-Rand, including Bobcat (Doosan Bobcat).
Doosan faced another turning point entering the 2020s. One of the main causes was the shaking of key affiliate Doosan Construction in the wake of the construction industry downturn following COVID-19. Burdened by debt of nearly 12 trillion won, the group had to suffer the pain of entering creditor management.
But the crisis once again awakened Doosan's DNA. The group carried out painful self-rescue measures, divesting prized assets including Doosan Infracore, Doosan Solus and Club Mow CC, as well as Doosan Tower in Dongdaemun. As a result, it exited creditor management in one year and 10 months, laying the groundwork for a comeback.
Having overcome the crisis through bold restructuring, Doosan immediately turned its rudder toward advanced industries. The opening salvo was the 2022 acquisition of Tesna (now Doosan Tesna (131970)), a system semiconductor back-end testing company, for about 460 billion won. The asset sales and bold acquisitions executed during the crisis ultimately became the nourishment for embracing semiconductors, a future core industry.
The Siltron acquisition was decided in the same vein. By taking on Siltron, Doosan is expected to strengthen its semiconductor value chain by linking the substrate materials lineup of holding company Doosan Corp.'s Electro-Materials BG with Doosan Tesna's back-end infrastructure, analysts said. The market views this big deal as Doosan's formal declaration of a transformation centered on clean energy, advanced semiconductors and robotics.
Indeed, Doosan's current business portfolio is seen as moving into the heart of the world's biggest themes — AI, data centers, robotics and infrastructure. Doosan Enerbility's nuclear and small modular reactor (SMR) manufacturing capabilities and gas turbine technology are regarded as a foundation to handle the explosive power demand of the AI era. Doosan Fuel Cell's (336260) hydrogen fuel cell business could also become another pillar in the energy field. In the heavy industry machinery segment, including Doosan Bobcat, the group plans to expand into physical AI through synergies with the robotics technology being pursued by Doosan Robotics.
"Doosan's DNA of reshaping the playing field through bold decisions has been proven once again through this Siltron acquisition," an IB industry expert said. "But since the industries Doosan has entered require massive capital and technologies that change moment by moment, sophisticated group-wide management must accompany this push."
