DS Investment & Securities and Eugene Investment & Securities said on the 24th that Doosan's decision to liquidize part of its equity in Doosan Robotics eases concerns over funding for the acquisition of SK Siltron and is highly likely to expand operating value over the mid to long term.
Earlier, Doosan signed a price return swap (PRS) contract backed by 11.7 million shares of Doosan Robotics as collateral the previous day and decided to raise a total of 947.7 billion won. As a result, Doosan's equity stake in Doosan Robotics will fall to 50% from the previous 68%. The company disclosed that it has no plan to sell additional equity in Doosan Robotics going forward.
Kim Su-hyeon, an analyst at DS Investment & Securities, said, "If you add this round of funding to the 1.27 trillion won in existing cash and cash equivalents held by Doosan, available funds are estimated at more than 2.16 trillion won," and "those funds are highly likely to be used to acquire a 70.6% controlling equity stake in SK Siltron."
She added, "This financing is expected to fully allay funding concerns that had been raised, such as the potential use of treasury shares or a paid-in capital increase at Doosan."
Eugene Investment & Securities also expected that if the acquisition is completed and SK Siltron's profitability recovers to its historical average, Doosan's operating value will increase by at least 3 trillion won.
Lee Ju-hyeong, an analyst at Eugene Investment & Securities, said, "Year-to-date (YTD) results at SK Siltron show profitability has been significantly weak from a year earlier, but from the fourth quarter, we expect an improvement on easing inventory adjustments at customers, price stabilization, and expense savings."
He added, "If SK Siltron is acquired at around 5 trillion won, which combines equity value and net debt, that would be 7.6 times the average 2023–2024 EBITDA of 657.7 billion won, a reasonable level even compared with the average enterprise value to EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) multiple of 7.9 times for SUMCO, GlobalWafers, and Siltronic over the same period."