South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries Group plans to list its refining arm Hyundai Oilbank in an IPO in 2018 and raise about $1.2 billion via a share issue by shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries, in a move to bolster its finances. Hyundai Heavy Industries, the flagship company of South Korea's ninth-largest conglomerate, said on Tuesday that Hyundai Robotics, the group's holding company, has decided to list refining subsidiary Hyundai Oilbank in an initial public offering (IPO) in the second half of 2018.

The shipbuilder also said it will issue rights shares worth about 1.3 trillion won ($1.21 billion). The two moves are part of the conglomerate's efforts to improve affiliates' financial soundness after switching to a holding company structure earlier this year, it said.

Copyright Reuters, 2018