South Korea’s Lotte Chemical mulls selling Malaysian unit

Lotte Chemical, a major petrochemicals company in South Korea, plans to sell its Malaysian unit Lotte Chemical Titan, local media sources reported. The company is reportedly contacting domestic and foreign companies and global private equity firms through investment banks for a possible sale.

Lotte Chem Titan, which is publicly traded on the Malaysian stock market, represents a 74.7% stake valued at approximately $566 million.

Lotte Chemical acquired its Malaysian subsidiary in 2010. The unit had been profitable until the mid-2010s but began to incur losses in 2022.

Sources attributed the possible sell-off to recent financial challenges regarding the unit. Lotte Chem Titan recorded a net loss of RM780.28 million ($164 million) in 2023.