(Aug 27): LG Electronics Inc is considering an initial public offering (IPO) for its business in India, tapping a booming stock market to help hit a target of US$75 billion (RM326.66 billion) in electronics revenue by 2030.
Chief executive officer William Cho said an Indian market debut is one of several options it’s weighing to revitalise a decades-old consumer electronics business. It’s the first time the South Korean company, which competes head-on with larger rival Samsung Electronics Co, has spoken publicly about an Indian debut, the subject of persistent market and media speculation.
Cho — who ascended to the top post in 2021 after more than three decades with the flagship of the family-owned LG Group — has set a goal of growing the electronics business to an annual revenue of 100 trillion won (US$75 billion or RM327.73 billion) by 2030. That’s versus overall company revenue of about US$65 billion in 2023. It aims to get there in part by earning more from enterprise clients — targeting about 45% of sales from other companies by the end of the decade, versus 35% now.
“It is one of many options we can consider,” Cho told Bloomberg Television. “I understand there’s increased interest among global investors,” he said, referring to a potential IPO in India. “As of now, nothing is confirmed.”
In India, LG seeks to sustain rapid growth. In the first six months of this year, revenue at LG’s unit within the Asian country rose 14% to a record 2.87 trillion won, while net income climbed 27% to 198.2 billion won.
Any IPO would coincide with a boom in India’s capital markets. More than 200 companies went public in IPOs that raised US$7.1 billion this year, making it one of the busiest markets in this space. At least 30 IPOs joined the pipeline as demand powered by domestic money pushes companies to explore listings. South Korean peer Hyundai Motor Co is preparing to raise as much as US$3.5 billion in an Indian IPO, Bloomberg News reported last month.
“We have been watching carefully what’s going on in the Indian market in terms of IPOs and following similar industry and similar IPO cases,” Cho said. LG hasn’t yet calculated possible valuations of its Indian unit, he added.
Cho, 61, plans to nurture new businesses that can each bring in more than one trillion won of annual revenue. Among them is heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, for which the company has 11 production sites globally. Chillers — large air conditioners for buildings — have become key for artificial intelligence data centres, which are sprouting up across the world as companies pursue generative AI. Over the past three years, overseas sales of LG’s chillers have grown 40% annually on average.
LG is also expanding its subscription service for home appliances. In South Korea, consumers can rent products such as washing machines and laptops ranging from three to six years by paying a monthly fee. In theory, that improves affordability and convenience: Some 35% of consumers are now opting for subscriptions, Cho said. The company recently began offering subscriptions in Malaysia and plans to roll that model out to customers in Thailand, Taiwan and India starting this year, and potentially the US and Europe in the future. LG expects revenue from the subscription business to grow 60% to about US$1.3 billion in 2024.
The company’s also planning to expand its free ad-supported streaming services. Cho said LG will invest one trillion won by 2027 to grow its webOS-based advertising and content business.
“Half of my career was spent outside South Korea, and it is about understanding customers and creating new business models for them,” said Cho, who has worked with LG in North America, Germany and Australia.
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