South Korea's Hyundai Steel plans $2.9 billion capital increase for US steel plant

SEOUL, Jan 26 : South Korea's Hyundai Steel said in a regulatory filing on Monday its affiliate Hyundai-POSCO Louisiana LLC plans a capital increase worth $2.9 billion for facilities investment in a US steel plant.

The move follows Hyundai Steel's announcement last year it and its parent Hyundai Motor Group would invest to build a steel plant in Louisiana, United States with an annual capacity of 2.7 million tonnes.

Hyundai Motor Group had also signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korean steelmaker Posco Holdings for cooperation on its planned US steel plant.

Hyundai-POSCO Louisiana LLC is an U.S.-based subsidiary of Hyundai Steel USA, which is wholly owned by Hyundai Steel.

Hyundai Steel said it plans to finance the total investment of $5.8 billion with $2.9 billion in equity and $2.9 billion in external borrowing, meaning that the equity ownership will comprise Hyundai Steel USA Corp with a 50 per cent stake, POS-Louisiana Inc with 20 per cent, and Hyundai Motor America and Kia America with 15 per cent each.