Company News | FOREST PARTNERS

Domestic private equity firm Forest Partners has identified the battery foundry company JR Energy Solutions as a new investment target. Despite the impact of the electric vehicle chasm (temporary demand slowdown), attention was drawn to the bank’s move to diversify its portfolio into non-electric vehicle sectors such as ESS, defense, urban air mobility (UAM), and drones, as well as JR Energy Solutions’ growth potential.

According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 15th, Forest Partners has decided to acquire about 10 billion won of the 20 billion won convertible bonds (CB) issued by JR Energy Solutions. JR Energy Solution is the world’s first specialized battery electrode foundry (contract manufacturer) that applies the semiconductor industry’s fabless–foundry divisional model to secondary batteries. Since its establishment in December 2022, the company has secured strategic investors (SIs) such as Korea & Company and Eugene Technology, attracting a cumulative investment of about 100 billion KRW in a short period and growing rapidly.

Building on its expertise in electrode manufacturing, JR Energy Solutions has expanded its scope to include cell assembly, module, and pack production, thereby establishing capabilities for manufacturing customized batteries for customers. Currently, it serves 25 cathode material companies and 19 anode material companies as customers, and produces 47 types of cathode active materials and 35 types of anode active materials. It is regarded as leading the domestic battery foundry market by leveraging its multi-product, small-lot production capabilities that can handle a wide variety of materials and specifications, as well as meet the customized chip requirements of more than a thousand fabless customers worldwide, as Taiwan’s TSMC does.