South Korea’s LG Electronics and Japan’s Hitachi are to establish a joint venture in October 2011 to expand into the water and wastewater treatment industries initially in Korea.
An announcement on 11 July 2011 said that the joint venture company, LG-Hitachi Water Solutions Co Ltd would have a 51% holding of the Won 18 billion (US$ 17 million) capital from LGE and 49% from Hitachi Plant Technologies.
The new company, based in Seoul, will initially focus on
centered mainly on wastewater treatment facilities and drinking water and sewage treatment facilities in Korea.
It would also focus on research and development of water treatment technology and plan for future expansion in the water business into other countries.
The decision to enter into the joint venture reflects LGE’s desire to make use of the Hitachi Group’s extensive experience and expertise in order to enter the water business. The Hitachi Group’s seeks to further expand in the water-business and will benefit from LGE’s marketing strength and sales channels in Korea and LGE’s high-level standardization and mass manufacturing technology in water treatment equipment and systems.
LGE’s water business, which recently started with domestic water purifiers, has extended into development of various types of membranes. The company intends to leverage these core technologies to achieve further expansion and development of a total water business.
The Hitachi Group has been involved in the water business for almost one century, and established a Water Environment Solutions Division on 1 June 2010, to develop and propose overall business strategies for growth in this field.