This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 11:17 a.m. on May 22, 2026.
Lotte Chemical is pushing to sell its building materials division, including engineered and solid surface products, but there appears to be a wide gap with bidders over price expectations. The company expects a corporate value of 400 billion–500 billion won, while potential bidders say they cannot accept that level given recent results and weak Chonbang demand.
Because of this, some in the industry are questioning whether Lotte Chemical is proceeding with the sale process more to show its willingness to carry out self-rescue efforts to creditors such as Korea Development Bank than to actually close a deal.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 22nd, Lotte Chemical is pushing to sell the building materials division within its advanced materials business. The assets for sale are the building materials division, including the solid surface brand "Staron," the engineered stone "Radianz," and the ceramic material "Locelain."
The issue is price. Lotte Chemical is said to be hoping for 400 billion–500 billion won for the division. However, bidders are reportedly reacting that this is excessively high given the division's current performance.
According to the industry, the division's EBITDA last year was about 30 billion won. Based on that, 400 billion won equals about 13.3 times EBITDA, and 500 billion won about 16.7 times. This is much higher than the valuation applied when a sale was attempted and failed in 2024 (around 10 times EBITDA).
Considering projections that Lotte Chemical's building materials division EBITDA could recover to the low 40 billion won range this year, applying even 9–11 times would yield 400 billion–500 billion won.
However, industry officials say that valuation is possible only when stable earnings and growth are supported. Lotte Chemical's building materials division once reached 70 billion–80 billion won in EBITDA, but it has recently fallen to 30 billion won.
Even so, as Lotte Chemical sticks to a corporate value of 400 billion–500 billion won, skepticism is growing among some bidders about the sincerity of the sale. Lotte Chemical has recently faced increased financial burdens due to a slump in the petrochemical cycle. As a result, improving the financial structure through the sale of noncore asset has been cited as a key task. A source in the IB industry said, "It seems they may be only pretending to sell the building materials business as part of a self-rescue plan to receive support from creditors such as Korea Development Bank."
Of course, from Lotte Chemical's perspective, there is pressure to avoid a fire sale. Unlike commodity petrochemicals, the building materials division is assessed as a business with brands, processing technology, and overseas sales networks. If the cycle recovers, results could rebound, making it difficult, the company says, to dispose of the division at a low price based solely on short-term performance.