Doosan Skoda Power, the turbine subsidiary of nuclear power plant developer Doosan Enerbility, has become the first Korean power equipment company to debut on the Czech stock market.
The offering price for Doosan Skoda Power was set at 240 crowns ($9.90) apiece, with the total public offering amounting to 2.5 billion crowns, or over $100 million. The funds raised through this listing will be used to bolster growth momentum for both Doosan Skoda Power and its parent company, Doosan Enerbility.
Key figures such as Prague Stock Exchange CEO Petr Koblic, Korean Ambassador to the Czech Republic Hong Young-ki, Doosan Enerbility President Park Sang-hyun and Lim Young-ki, head of Doosan Skoda Power, attended the listing ceremony at the Prague Stock Exchange on Thursday.
With its market debut, Doosan’s Czech subsidiary positions itself at the forefront of South Korea’s penetration into Europe’s burgeoning nuclear power market. Outpacing France, Korea was selected as the preferred bidder for the 24 trillion won ($16.6 billion) project for the Dukovany nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic last year, marking Korea's largest nuclear export deal since 15 years ago with the United Arab Emirates.
The Korean consortium for the Czech power plant project is led by the state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, along with Kepco Engineering & Construction, Korea Nuclear Fuel, Kepco KPS, Doosan Enerbility and Daewoo Engineering & Construction.
Next month, Korea and the Czech Republic will sign the final contract for constructing two nuclear power plants in Dukovany. The Industry Ministry convened a meeting earlier in the day with the Finance Ministry, Science Ministry, Foreign Ministry and other departments to review the process of their high-level dialogue and cooperation agreement aimed at bolstering the strategic partnership with the Czech Republic.
After ringing the bell to celebrate the stock exchange listing, Park said, “It has been both a privilege and an honor for Doosan to partner with Skoda Power in the Czech Republic, a nation renowned for its strength in steam turbine technology. Over 16 years, Doosan and Skoda Power have worked closely together, achieving significant milestones.”
Doosan Enerbility, formerly Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, acquired Czech-based Skoda Power in 2009. Since then, Doosan Skoda Power has supplied over 540 steam turbines across Europe, including in the Czech Republic.
Following reports of Doosan Skoda Power’s listing in the Czech Republic, the stock price of Doosan, which owns a 30 percent stake in Doosan Enerbility, reached an intraday high of 294,000 won on Korea’s main bourse, the Kospi, up 1.7 percent from the previous closing price.
Meanwhile, Doosan Skoda Power’s Czech debut comes after Doosan Group’s failed attempt to restructure by absorbing Doosan Enerbility’s lucrative subsidiary, Doosan Bobcat, into the group’s robotics arm -- Doosan Robotics -- as a wholly owned subsidiary, with plans to delist it. Doosan stressed that this reshaping would reduce debt and secure funding for nuclear investments.
However, the Financial Supervisory Service raised an issue with the stock exchange ratio, which overvalued Doosan Robotics and could potentially weaken the interests of Doosan Enerbility shareholders. Doosan subsequently adjusted the merger ratio to allocate more shares of the robotics unit to Doosan Enerbility shareholders, but the plan was scrapped in December due to rising merger costs following a decline in its stock price, seen as prompted by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration.
hyejin2@heraldcorp.com
