View of the Solus Advanced Materials European Integrated Corporation (VES) factory in Luxembourg. /Courtesy of Solus Advanced Materials

This article was posted on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site at 3:59 p.m. on May 8, 2025.

Domestic private equity fund manager SkyLake Investment's portfolio corporation, Solus Advanced Materials, is intensifying the sale of its Luxembourg entity. The Luxembourg entity holds the source technology for battery copper foil and has attracted interest from multiple potential acquirers due to its technological capabilities.

According to the investment bank (IB) industry on the 8th, Solus Advanced Materials is pursuing the sale of management rights for its Luxembourg entity, Circuit Foil Luxembourg (CFL). Many financial investors (FI) and strategic investors (SI) participated in this preliminary bidding. Consequently, the sales team shifted from selecting a single-digit shortlist to a long list (a broader range of candidates), granting several buyers due diligence opportunities. The sale is being managed by global investment bank Jefferies.

Solus Advanced Materials, listed on the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), is a successor of Doosan Solus, which was established in 2019 through a spin-off from Doosan. After being acquired by SkyLake at the end of 2020, it changed its name to Solus Advanced Materials and is focusing on producing battery copper foil using copper as its main business. Founded in 1960, CFL is virtually the only copper foil manufacturer in Europe. It became an overseas production subsidiary of Doosan Solus when it was acquired by Doosan Group in 2014.

While domestic battery foil companies SK Nexilis and LOTTE Energy Materials are aiming at the Chinese market with production facilities in Korea and Malaysia, Solus Advanced Materials has positioned itself with Europe and North America as its core bases. Accordingly, it has established itself as the only company that can supply products to major battery manufacturers in Europe such as LG Energy Solution and Automotive Cells Company (ACC).

Solus Advanced Materials is pursuing the sale of its valuable subsidiary CFL to improve its financial structure. The industrial environment has deteriorated due to weak electric vehicle demand (the chasm), leading to a significant decline in performance. In the first quarter of this year, Solus Advanced Materials recorded sales of 157.6 billion won and an operating loss of 15.3 billion won. As Solus Advanced Materials' performance has plummeted, violations of financial covenants in SkyLake's acquisition financing have occurred. The stock price has also shown a downward trend since peaking in 2022.

Most of the buyers currently conducting due diligence are reportedly global funds and foreign corporations. Initially, it was expected that domestic private equity fund managers would show interest; however, they are believed to have withdrawn due to concerns about managing foreign entities.

An industry insider noted, “With large investments made in the Hungarian factory to increase production capacity and the beginning of construction on a copper foil production facility in Canada, the only asset currently available for sale is the Luxembourg entity,” adding that “as multiple FIs and SIs have expressed their intention to acquire, I understand they have begun due diligence after selecting a long list.”