(Yicai) Sept. 11 -- China's Hengxin Optoelectronic Materials has agreed to acquire the polarizing film business of South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI for KRW1.12 trillion (USD834 million).

The deal includes the production and sales of polarizing films in the South Korean cities of Cheongju and Suwon, as well as the full ownership of Samsung Wuxi Electronic Materials, Samsung SDI said in a filing yesterday. This includes polarizer production lines, associated business operations, workforce, and over 1,000 intellectual property rights.

Wuxi-based Hengxin Optoelectronic is a joint venture between China's Nuoyan Capital, which has stakes in many display, auto, and chip companies, and top polarizer and optical film supplier Hengmei Optoelectronic. Polarizers are often called the "chip" of optoelectronic displays and are a sector in which China heavily depends on imports.

Established in 1970, Samsung SDI holds a prominent position in the car battery, energy storage systems, and information technology equipment sectors.

Nuoyan was set up in 2016 and focuses on investments in the optoelectronic display, semiconductor, new energy, and smart vehicle industries. Last year, It led the acquisition of the polarizer upstream materials business from South Korean EV battery maker LG Chem.

Founded in 2014, Hengmei Optoelectronic is the world's third-largest polarizer film manufacturer. It will likely move to the second spot once Hengxin Optoelectronic completes the latest acquisition, while its ambitions are to become the top manufacturer by 2026.

Hengmei Optoelectronic has four polarizer film production lines in mass production and another line under construction, according to Cinno Research. Samsung SDI also has four such mass production lines in South Korea and China.

Editor: Martin Kadiev