KARACHI: Lucky Core Industries Ltd (LCI) said on Friday it signed an “assignment and assumption agreement” with its wholly owned subsidiary as well as Lotte Chemical Corporation of South Korea (LCC) to complete the transaction involving the sale of Lotte Chemical Pakistan Ltd.

Earlier, LCI had signed a share purchase agreement with the South Korean firm for the acquisition of its 1.1 billion shares constituting 75.01 per cent stake in Lotte Chemical Pakistan.

Lucky Core Ventures Ltd, one of the three subsidiaries of LCI, will now be completing the transaction, it said.

Based on a Bloomberg story published in January this year that referred to the transaction value in the South Korean currency, analysts said at the time the deal was signed at Rs31.30 per share or $155.8 million.

Lotte Chemical Company makes purified terephthalic acid (PTA), which is a raw material for textile and packaging industries. The company enjoys a captive market of sorts as the country’s only manufacturer and supplier of PTA. Its entire output is consumed by the local textile and packaging industries.

Lucky Core Industries was known until recently as ICI Pakistan Ltd. Back in 2008, AkzoNobel, which is one of the largest coatings and chemicals companies globally, became the ultimate holding company of ICI Pakistan Ltd.

Lucky Holdings Ltd then acquired the majority shareholding from AkzoNobel in 2012 and became the ultimate holding company of ICI Pakistan Ltd.

It went on an acquisition spree in the following years and acquired assets in pharmaceutical, chemical and formula milk businesses. Its net profit for 2021-22 amounted to Rs8.86bn on a consolidated basis, up 69pc from a year ago. Its consolidated turnover increased 56pc to Rs100.86bn in the same year.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2023