SK Materials (CEO Lee Yong-wook), a semiconductor and display materials specialist, has passed an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders regarding its merger with SK and is moving to increase synergy by combining SK's global investment capabilities.

SK Materials announced that both the division plan and merger agreement were approved at the extraordinary general shareholders' meeting held at the SK Materials Supex Hall in Yeongju on the 29th.

Based on the number of shares present, the split plan was approved by 83.8% of shareholders, while the merger agreement received 77.7% of the votes, securing strong shareholder support. With this approval, SK Materials will spin off its entire specialty gas business unit into a new entity. Simultaneously, the remaining holding company business unit will be merged with SK Corporation. The merger process is scheduled to be completed on December 1.

Meanwhile, SK will absorb and merge SK Materials through a small-scale merger that involves issuing new stocks and exchanging them for SK Materials stocks. To this end, trading of SK Materials stock will be suspended from November 29 to December 24, and 1.58 shares of SK common stock will be issued for each share of SK Materials common stock around December 27.

The global advanced materials market is facing a growing need for sustained investment and sophisticated management strategies due to the emergence of high-value-added core technologies. Furthermore, global competition among key materials companies in the US, Europe, and China is intensifying. Against this backdrop, SK Materials and SK agreed that securing preemptive investment opportunities in high-growth advanced materials sectors such as semiconductors, displays, batteries, and eco-friendly technologies over the next one to two years will be crucial in determining the global market landscape, and thus pursued the merger.

Through this merger, the two companies expect to accelerate the execution of their advanced materials growth strategy by organically combining SK's global investment expertise and superior financing capabilities with SK Materials' material technology commercialization capabilities.

At an investor conference held last September, SK unveiled a growth strategy in the advanced materials sector, which included investing a total of KRW 5.1 trillion by 2025 in three areas: semiconductor materials, power/compound semiconductors, and battery materials. The company also revealed a concrete blueprint for becoming the world's No. 1 comprehensive semiconductor materials and comprehensive battery materials company by 2025.

The new corporation established by SK Materials through the physical division of its special gas business division possesses key products such as nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), tungsten hexafluoride (WF6), and monosilane (SiH4), which have a high market share in the global market. Building on these semiconductor materials business capabilities and improved financial structure, the new corporation plans to pursue sustainable growth by expanding its portfolio of high-value-added products tailored to the technological advancements of its semiconductor customers.

SK Materials' holding business unit will operate as a Company-In-Company (CIC) within the merged company, continuing its existing role of expanding the materials business and managing materials-related subsidiaries. Simultaneously, the company plans to maximize merger synergies by optimizing its integrated portfolio management with SK.

SK Materials CEO Lee Yong-wook stated, “The merger and spin-off were essential choices to become a global top materials company in the advanced materials field, where global competition is intensifying,” and added, “We will maximize shareholder value by combining SK’s global investment expertise and SK Materials’ business capabilities.”