LG Display to set up plant in China

(ATTN: ADDS more info in para 4-5; UPDATES stock price)
SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Yonhap) -- LG Display Co., the world's second-largest flat panel
maker, said Tuesday it is pushing to build a next-generation liquid crystal
display (LCD) plant in southeastern China.
LG Display has signed a preliminary deal with the city of Guangzhou, China, the
company said in a regulatory filing, responding to a media report. Earlier in the
day, the Korea Exchange, the main bourse operator, called on LG Display to make
public its position on the report.
In its Tuesday edition, the vernacular Maeil Business Newspaper reported that LG
Display signed an agreement with the government of Guangzhou to build an
8th-generation panel plant at a cost of some 5 trillion won (US$4 billion).
"We will relocate 500 to 1,000 of our key employees to China," said LG Display
CEO Kwon Young-soo to reporters. "We currently hold a 25-percent market share in
China, but we expect it will grow with the new production plant."
Kwon added that the company will likely seek a joint venture with a Chinese TV
maker for the operation of the Guangzhou plant.
The company needs to get approval from the South Korean government in order to
build a plant overseas, as technologies related to producing LCD panels are
designated as among the nation's key technologies.
Shares of LG Display closed at 36,250 won, up 2.55 percent from the previous
session.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
(END)