LG Chem sells LCD polarizer business to China's Shanshan

By Lim Chang-won Posted : June 10, 2020, 11:53 Updated : June 10, 2020, 11:53

[Courtesy of LG Chem]

SEOUL -- As part of efforts to focus on organic light-emitting diode polarizers, LG Chem, a petrochemical and battery-making arm of South Korea's LG Group, will sell its liquid crystal display polarizer business to Shanshan, a chemical material company in China, for $1.1 billion. The conditional contract excluded product lines such as LCD polarizers for automobiles.

A polarizer is an optical filter that lets light waves of a specific polarization pass through while blocking light waves of other polarizations. Polarizers are used in many optical techniques and instruments, and polarizing filters find applications in photography and LCD technology.

LG Chem said it would disclose details when a final contract is concluded. The deal comes as LG Chem seeks a structural change to focus on its material business. In February this year, the company sold color sensitive materials for LCDs to a subsidiary of China's Yoke Technology for 58 billion won and decided to withdraw from its glass substrate business.

In April 2019, LG Chem carried out a structural change to produce high-tech materials and agreed to acquire DuPont's technical assets related to soluble OLED, a core platform for next-generation displays. LG Chem's sister companies, LG Display and LG electronics, have stepped up the development of OLED technologies as OLED TVs have become the mainstream in the global TV market.

LG Chem has partnered with Universal Display Corporation (UDC) to work together for the development of a new luminescent layer. OLED consists of several layers, including a luminous layer that actually emits light and consists of materials called Host that produces light by combining electrons injected into a common layer with a positive light as well as dopants that emit a certain color.
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