Hanwha Aerospace Co. is planning South Korea’s largest-ever corporate capital raise of 3.6 trillion won ($2.6 billion) to fund an ambitious global expansion of its defense operations across land, sea and air segments.
The Seoul-based company announced Thursday it will issue new shares at an expected price of 605,000 won each through a shareholder allocation and subsequent public offering. The Financial Supervisory Service will conduct a “focused review” of the plan, a process that could take up to 10 trading days.
Hanwha intends to use the proceeds to establish production bases in Europe, the Middle East, Australia and the United States – regions where defense spending is projected to grow substantially. About 1.6 trillion won will fund overseas land defense facilities, while 800 billion won is earmarked for maritime defense and shipbuilding operations, primarily in the U.S.
The company is already implementing a multi-yard strategy linking facilities in South Korea, the United States and Singapore. It recently made a strategic investment in Austal, which operates shipyards in the U.S. and Australia.
Domestically, Hanwha will invest 900 billion won in “smart factory” facilities and operations at key defense sites, positioning them as global R&D hubs.
The defense contractor has set a target of reaching 70 trillion won in sales and 10 trillion won in operating profit by 2035, representing a more than sixfold increase from its 2024 results of 11.2 trillion won in sales.
