LG Chem Ltd., South Korea's largest chemical firm, said Monday it will issue corporate bonds worth 1.2 trillion won ($1.1 billion) to fund its new growth drivers, including renewable energy and battery businesses.

LG Chem said it will issue 820 billion worth ESG (environmental, social and governance) bond and corporate bond worth 380 billion won, the largest amount to be raised by a local company.

The parent of LG Energy Solution Ltd., which supplies electric vehicle batteries to Tesla and a number of automakers, said the amount of bond sales doubled from its initial plan thanks to high investor interest.

LG Chem said it will use funds to be raised from the ESG bond in new growth drivers, including renewable energy, battery materials and new drug development, and use the rest in paying its debt and operation costs of petrochemical facilities.

Shares in LG Chem on the Seoul bourse jumped 162.4 percent last year as investors bet on its battery businesses to join the booming electric vehicle market.

Its shares rose 3.13 percent to 990,000 won on Monday, the first trading day after the US International Trade Commission on Wednesday ruled in favor of LG in a trade secret dispute with its smaller local rival SK Innovation Co. (Yonhap)