...June 27, 2023 This report does not constitute a rating action. HONG KONG (S&P Global Ratings) June 27, 2023--SK Innovation Co. Ltd.'s decision to issue new equity will help reduce its leverage burden. In our view, the common equity issuance highlights the company's efforts to manage financial metrics and creditworthiness amid its high investment cycle. SK Innovation announced on June 23 that it plans to issue 8.19 million new shares (8.7% of outstanding shares) to fund investments and repay debt. We estimate the issuance amount will be Korean won (KRW)1.0 trillion-KRW1.2 trillion. The final issue price will be set on Sept. 6, 2023, and the proceeds from the issuance will be paid on Sept. 19, 2023. Our rating on SK Innovation (###-/Watch Neg/--) remain on CreditWatch with negative implications, where they were first placed on March 20, 2023, to reflect the company's aggressive investments and the resulting increase in the ratio of debt to EBITDA. SK Innovation is a Korea-based global energy...
