SSDIY Samsung SDI Company Ltd (PK)

By In-Soo Nam 

SEOUL -- Samsung Electronics Co. said it will acquire a stake in BYD Co. through the Chinese electric-vehicle and battery maker's ongoing $2.3 billion share sale, as the South Korean technology giant bets on the automotive market to drive growth.

Neither company disclosed the size of the stake or how much it would cost Samsung. Details will be unveiled next week, when BYD's share self-driving cars develop electric carssale via a private placement is completed, according to a person close to the matter.

Samsung's move comes as technology companies are tapping into the automotive industry's shift toward next-generation vehicles such as electric and self-driving cars. Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Apple Inc. are accelerating efforts to develop electric cars of their own.

"This investment will strengthen our chip business for electric cars. We'll continue to expand our partnership with BYD in various sectors," Samsung said in a statement Friday.

The company said it has no intention of participating in the management of BYD, which is backed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

In a regulatory filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, BYD said the two parties will work together in the future on electric-vehicle components, adding that Samsung's plan reflects the Korean conglomerate's confidence in BYD.

The Korea Economic Daily reported Friday that Samsung had agreed to buy 3 billion yuan ($449 million) of new BYD shares, which would give it a 4% stake in the Chinese auto maker. Samsung declined to comment on the report.

BYD has said it would sell 15 billion yuan of new shares to help boost its battery-production capacity and its electric-car output.

Sales of electric and hybrid cars in China, the world's largest auto market, quadrupled to 331,000 units last year, helped by government subsidies.

Samsung Group is already a significant player in the auto industry via its affiliates. Samsung SDI Co. makes electric-vehicle batteries and Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. specializes in auto cameras, sensors and telecommunication modules.

Samsung Electronics, however, has been a latecomer in the rapidly growing auto-parts business. The company, whose mainstay smartphone business is facing a global slowdown, in December established a team for self-drive technologies in a push for sales of components used for in-car entertainment and satellite navigation.

Shares of Samsung SDI rose as much as 8.3% to a six-week high in Seoul Friday on expectations that the company might be in line to supply its batteries to BYD.

--Rose Yu contributed to this article.

Write to In-Soo Nam at In-Soo.Nam@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 16, 2016 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)

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