By Joyce Lee
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea’s largest defence firm Hanwha Aerospace Co Ltd said on Thursday it plans an equity capital increase worth 3.6 trillion won ($2.5 billion) to build up overseas and domestic production to meet growing international demand.
Hanwha “plans to secure strategic overseas production bases in Europe, the Middle East, Australia and the United States, where mid- to long-term defence demand is expected to grow”, the firm said in a statement.
It wants to use 1.6 trillion won to invest in overseas production bases for ground defence arms, including establishing local factories and buying up stakes in other defence firms.
Hanwha said it will issue 5.95 million new shares as part of the capital increase, in a separate bourse filing. The announcement came after market close in Seoul.
Hanwha makes ground-based artillery such as K9 self-propelled howitzers, in which it is the world’s leading exporter, Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers and Redback armoured vehicles – bought by countries such as Poland, Romania and Turkey.
It also plans to use 900 billion won to improve domestic production facilities, 300 billion won to develop engines for unmanned aircraft, and 800 billion won to secure overseas shipbuilding sites.
Hanwha’s affiliated shipbuilder, Hanwha Ocean, has maintenance orders for U.S. military ships.
South Korea has previously said it aims to become the world’s fourth-largest defence exporter by 2027. ($1 = 1,463.3200 won)
(Reporting by Joyce LeeEditing by Ed Davies, Rachna Uppal and Kevin Liffey)
