Ecopro BM finalises rights issue price at 89,500 won per share

Ecopro BM said Tuesday it has fixed the final issue price for its paid-in capital increase at 89,500 won ($67) per share, unchanged from the first indicative price and below the second indicative price of 92,500 won ($69).

The price is set at a 20 percent discount to the base share price and a 40 percent discount to the minimum final price, according to a regulatory filing.

Ecopro BM plans to spend about 135 billion won ($101 million) of the proceeds on operating funds to buy precursors, the key raw material for cathode materials, and another 150 billion won ($112 million) on routine and upgrade investment.

The rights issue also underpins a wider push to secure raw materials. The company holds a stake in BNSI, an Indonesian nickel smelter, giving it access to 65,000 tons of nickel a year, enough for about 1.5 million electric vehicles. Ecopro BM links that non-PFE feedstock, which it said meets US and European rules, to its cathode plant in Debrecen, Hungary, which has annual capacity of 54,000 tons, to respond to in-market regulations such as the EU's Critical Raw Materials Act.

Kim Jang-woo, the company's chief executive, said the company held onto its profit streak even as demand in the electric vehicle market slowed temporarily and external uncertainty persisted. "We were able to maintain our profitability through expanding new demand sources such as AI data centers and through improving our structure around profitability," he said.