BS Group to handle project discovery, development and operation

KB Financial to provide funding, corporate finance advisory and more

Kim Sung-hyun (left), head of KB Financial Group's CIB Market Division, and Kang Soon-bae, president and chief financial officer of BS Group, pose for a photo at the signing ceremony Wednesday.
Kim Sung-hyun (left), head of KB Financial Group's CIB Market Division, and Kang Soon-bae, president and chief financial officer of BS Group, pose for a photo at the signing ceremony Wednesday.

BS Group and KB Financial Group will build a strategic partnership to jointly pursue future growth businesses in renewable energy, AI data centers and urban development.

BS Group announced Wednesday that it signed a memorandum of understanding titled "Expanding Productive Finance and Mutual Growth" with KB Financial Group at BS Hanyang Tower in Munjeong-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul.

Three BS Group affiliates — BS Boseong, BS Hanyang and BS Industries — took part in the agreement, along with five KB Financial Group affiliates, including KB Financial Group itself, KB Kookmin Bank, KB Securities, KB Asset Management and KB Capital.

The two groups plan to combine their industrial and financial expertise to maximize business synergy and jointly identify new growth engines. Their cooperation will center on renewable energy and eco-friendly power plants, energy infrastructure such as energy hub terminals, ports and utilities, and real estate supply including residential and industrial complexes. It will also cover AI- and energy-focused new towns, AI data centers, financial services tied to corporate growth such as mergers and acquisitions and initial public offerings, and ESG management.

BS Group, known for its apartment brand Sujain, has been expanding beyond construction and real estate development into renewable energy and energy infrastructure. The company is currently running large-scale projects including a 98-megawatt Solasido solar power project, a land-and-water solar power project in Goheung and Haechangman, a Northeast Asia LNG hub terminal, and a combined heat and power plant.

In particular, the Solasido development — the country's largest public-private urban development project, pursued jointly with the South Jeolla-Gwangju Integrated Special City and Haenam-gun — is gaining momentum. Following the ground-breaking of a national AI computing center in August, Samsung Electronics announced plans to invest 17 trillion won ($12.7 billion) in an AI data center there. A large-scale data center and a 5.4-gigawatt renewable energy complex are planned for the Solasido area going forward.

KB Financial Group, too, has been strengthening financial support for advanced strategic industries and infrastructure. The group has been recognized for its competitiveness in the infrastructure finance market, having arranged financing for the Sinan Ui offshore wind power project and secured the right to arrange financing for the district energy project at the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster.

"Cooperation with a financial partner is essential to carry out large-scale projects such as housing, urban development, energy infrastructure and AI data centers without disruption," a BS Group official said. "Our partnership with KB Financial Group, the largest financial group in the country, will speed up our project execution and create synergy in identifying new growth engines."

The two groups plan to form sector-specific working councils to identify concrete joint projects going forward, continuing to strengthen competitiveness and pursue shared growth in renewable energy and future industries.

Meanwhile, BS Group affiliate BS Hanyang posted sales of 758.9 billion won, operating profit of 97.3 billion won and net profit for the period of 65.5 billion won on a consolidated basis in the first half of last year. Sales rose 52.5 percent from the same period a year earlier, while operating profit more than doubled, surging 101.4 percent. The company's order backlog stood at 7.3 trillion won as of the end of the first half.


hwshin@heraldcorp.com