"Just Two Days After the Chairman's Visit"... Lotte Injects Another 250 Billion Won 'Here'

All Funds Allocated to Songdo Plant 1 Construction
Seventh Paid-In Capital Increase, Total Investment Reaches 1.5 Trillion Won
"All-In" on Bio as Petrochemical Growth Slows

Lotte Group is injecting another 250 billion won in capital into its bio business, which has been identified as a future growth engine. This marks the seventh rights offering since the establishment of Lotte Biologics, following previous large-scale funding for the acquisition of a U.S. production site and the creation of the Songdo Bio Campus. The group is continuing its aggressive investment in bio as a next-generation growth pillar, as its traditional core businesses such as petrochemicals enter a period of slowed growth.

Notably, this large-scale capital injection comes just two days after Chairman Shin Dong-bin personally visited the construction site of Lotte Biologics' Plant 1 in Songdo, underscoring the group's strong commitment to developing its bio business.

According to a disclosure filed on July 12, 2026, with the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system, Lotte Biologics has decided on a rights offering of 255.30952 billion won to raise facility funds. The new shares to be issued total 4,209,000, and the capital raised will be fully invested in the construction of Plant 1 at the Songdo Bio Campus. Existing shareholders, including Lotte Corporation, Hotel Lotte, and Lotte Holdings Japan, will participate in the offering. This structure involves further funding from group affiliates rather than external investors.

A Lotte Group representative said, "In the previous rights offering in March, Lotte Corporation contributed 60%, and Lotte Holdings Japan and Hotel Lotte each contributed 20%. A similar funding allocation is expected this time. With the group having announced a 4.5 trillion won investment plan for Lotte Biologics, further investments are expected in the future."

This disclosure drew attention because it was released immediately after Chairman Shin Dong-bin’s visit to the Songdo Bio Campus Plant 1. On July 3, Chairman Shin inspected the plant, reviewed preparations for production, and examined global order strategies, emphasizing that "Bio is the core industry that will lead the group’s next leap forward." On the same day, the Lotte Biologics board approved the rights offering, and the investment plan was subsequently made public. The simultaneous site management and capital support demonstrate the group’s strong commitment to its bio business.

Lotte Group’s focus on the bio sector stems from the growth limitations of its existing core businesses. The group's mainstay, retail, has seen its growth slow amid an overall consumer slump and increasing polarization. In addition, the delayed recovery of group tourism from China and a decline in the number of daigong shoppers have made it difficult to expect previous levels of profitability. Petrochemicals are also facing a prolonged downturn due to global oversupply and sluggish market conditions.

In recent years, Chairman Shin has concentrated on shifting the group’s business portfolio from retail-centered operations to future industries. Since establishing Lotte Biologics in 2022, Lotte Group has made aggressive investments in the bio sector, including funding the acquisition of Bristol Myers Squibb’s Syracuse plant in the United States, the construction of Songdo Bio Campus, and the establishment of an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) platform.

With this latest rights offering, the group’s cumulative investment in Lotte Biologics is estimated to have reached about 1.5 trillion won. In addition, Lotte Corporation has provided a funding guarantee for a 900 billion won loan, underscoring the group’s continued financial support. This illustrates the group’s strategy to nurture bio not just as a new business but as a core growth pillar for Lotte’s future.

Given the scale of capital injection, the market’s attention is focused on how quickly Lotte Biologics can deliver tangible order results. Songdo Plant 1 recently received operational approval, completed the construction of production facilities, and has entered the stage of preparing for full-scale commercial production. The company plans to conduct trial runs and validation of its production systems in the second half of this year and complete GMP certification within the year—about six months ahead of the original schedule. A Lotte Group representative stated, "Our goal is to begin commercial production starting next year."

An industry source commented, "The bio business is a capital-intensive process industry that inevitably incurs losses in the early stages. Lotte’s repeated rights offerings and capital injections indicate a focus on long-term growth rather than short-term profits. Ultimately, the key will be how quickly the company can secure global clients and establish a stable order base."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.