"Leap to High-Tech Company" Korea & Company Gains Momentum with Big Deal

Korea & Company Group is expected to gain significant momentum for a ‘quantum jump’ as a global high-tech company by acquiring additional shares of Hanon Systems, the world's second-largest automotive thermal energy management solutions company. The company anticipates that this will strengthen the group-level future growth portfolio led by Chairman Cho Hyun-bum of Korea & Company Group, while also creating considerable synergy with its core business company, Hankook Tire & Technology.

This acquisition of Hanon Systems is regarded as the fruition of Chairman Cho Hyun-bum’s foresight and business strategy in anticipation of the electric vehicle era. Since the initial acquisition of Hanon Systems shares in 2014, Chairman Cho has been envisioning a next-generation business model combining tire and automotive thermal management system (TMS) technologies.

Hankook Tire & Technology Headquarters
[Photo by Hankook & Company]

In particular, Chairman Cho has focused on Hanon Systems’ growth potential and thoroughly verified fundamentals such as unparalleled technology, management strategy, and corporate culture over the past decade. Having completed the preliminary work, Chairman Cho is known to have devised a differentiated strategy to implant Korea & Company Group’s growth DNA into Hanon Systems to develop it into a core company for the electric vehicle era.

Visible achievements are expected in the electric vehicle sector. Both Hankook Tire and Hanon Systems are recognized for proactively developing core technologies before the rapid spread of electric vehicles, securing top-level technological capabilities.

Hankook Tire’s ‘iON,’ the world’s first full lineup of electric vehicle-exclusive tire brand launched in 2022, is characterized by noise reduction and improved energy efficiency optimized for electric vehicles. By lowering rolling resistance, which greatly affects driving range, it has increased energy efficiency by up to 6%. Within two years of its launch, it has established itself as a leading global electric vehicle tire brand.

Hanon Systems is also significantly expanding its position as the world’s second-largest company covering the entire design and component supply of electric vehicle thermal management systems. Hanon Systems’ heat pump system technology uses external air and electric vehicle motors and batteries for heating and cooling devices, achieving about three times higher energy efficiency compared to conventional electric heaters. It leads the electric vehicle thermal management system solution market with overwhelming technological competitiveness in areas such as thermal management systems that efficiently manage battery performance?greatly affected by indoor and outdoor temperatures and driving range?as well as electric compressors and integrated refrigerant and coolant modules.

The combination of Hankook Tire and Hanon Systems is also attracting great attention from a mid- to long-term perspective. The group expects that if the vast research and development data and infrastructure accumulated over many years by the two companies, industry-leading technical personnel, and insights gained from the original equipment (OE) sector of finished vehicles are combined, their capabilities to innovate technology and respond to mobility paradigm shifts will be strengthened.

Since Hankook Tire has demonstrated strong partnerships with over 40 global automakers including Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, and Tesla, Hanon Systems is also expected to expand its global partnerships by collaborating with Hankook Tire. The industry evaluates this acquisition as securing the driving force to fully accelerate growth as an advanced technology company.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.