Hanwha Group, the nation’s 10th-largest conglomerate by assets, said Wednesday that Hanwha Chemical, its flagship affiliate, signed a deal to take over KPX Fine Chemical as part of efforts to restructure its business portfolio.

The group did not reveal the size of the deal.

KPX Fine Chemical, a local mid-sized chemical goods manufacturer, has supplied toluene diisocyanate and its derivatives, which are used in products such as cars, furniture and footwear, for almost three decades.

“The group sought the deal to strengthen its competitiveness in the petrochemical sector,” Hanwha said in a statement. “We will continue to drive our business portfolio restructuring to realize the vision to become a world-leading company in each core sector by 2020.” 

Petrochemicals are one of Hanwha’s three areas of core competence. The other two are its solar power generation business and advanced materials manufacturing.

In the field of solar energy, Hanwha has built a vertically integrated business portfolio that has improved its efficiency, the company said.

To expand its worldwide reach, Hanwha on Aug. 8 acquired a 40 percent stake in Queensland-based Empyreal Energy with the aim to enter Australia’s home-based solar power retail market.

In 2012, the group took over Germany-based Q-Cell, the world’s largest solar cell maker. The group said it was considering more M&As in the solar energy sector to strengthen its market leadership in target countries such as Japan, Germany, and the Middle East.

A similar strategy will be applied to its business for advanced materials ― in particular, those for automobiles and electronics ― in addition to expanding facility investment and reshuffling existing affiliates.

As part of such efforts, Hanwha Group renamed its affiliate Hanwha L&C Hanwha Advanced Materials in June after selling off its construction materials unit.

While investing in its areas of core competence, the group has been streamlining its portfolio for more efficiency.

Earlier this year, Hanwha sold its pharmaceutical unit DreamPharma to Alvogen, a multinational company, for some 194.5 billion won ($189 million), to raise capital and increase its focus on its core businesses.

By Seo Jee-yeon (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)