South Korea’s Hansae Yes24 Group confirmed it is committed to diversifying into the automotive industry from its current operations focused mainly on clothing and fashion accessories. The group is a major clothing outsourcing manufacturer for global brands such as H&M, Zara and Gap.
Its holding company, Hansae Yes24 Holdings Company Ltd, is currently in the process of acquiring Erae AMS Company Ltd, a local automotive components manufacturer formerly known as Korea Delphi Automotive Systems Corporation – with annual sales in excess of US$100m.
Erae supplies a wide range of automotive parts including driveline, controls, braking and steering system parts for electric and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, supplying local vehicle manufacturers such as GM Korea Company and Kia Corporation. Its parent company, Erae CS Company, put its 81% stake up for sale in April and Hansae Yes24 Group was recently named the preferred bidder.
Speaking at the Hansae group’s investor relations conference earlier this month, vice chairman Kim Suk-hwan said: “I’m confident that our expected acquisition of Erae AMS will provide the needed boost for our growth. We expect our sales to rise above KRW3.4trn (US$2.5bn) next year with the acquisition of Erae AMS.”
