[Edaily Reporter Choi Oh-hyun ] LGELECTRONICS has drawn a clear line, stating that no decision has been made regarding the Nasdaq listing of its robotics startup subsidiary, Bear Robotics.

In a regulatory filing titled “Clarification Regarding Rumors or Reports” on the 7th, LGELECTRONICS stated, “Bear Robotics, our overseas subsidiary, has not made any decisions regarding an overseas listing,” adding, “We will issue another disclosure once specific details are finalized or within one month.”

Previously, The Korea Economic Daily reported that LGELECTRONICS had begun raising funds for Bear Robotics’ Nasdaq listing. The report indicated that LGELECTRONICS had selected Bank of America as the lead underwriter and was in the process of securing pre-IPO (pre-listing investment) participation from private equity funds and other investors, with the amount to be raised estimated at 300 to 400 billion won. Following this news, LGELECTRONICS’ stock price surged 8.44% from the previous day’s closing price in early trading that day.

In March 2024, LGELECTRONICS invested $60 million to acquire a 21% stake in Bear Robotics. Subsequently, in May 2024, it exercised a call option to increase its stake and secure controlling interest. As of the end of the first half of the year, LGELECTRONICS’ stake in Bear Robotics stood at 56.9%.

Bear Robotics is a robotics startup founded in May 2017 in California, U.S. After gaining market attention with its serving robot, Servi, the company expanded its business scope to include industrial autonomous mobile robots. Recently, it has been expanding into the field of physical AI. Last June, it acquired the British robotics startup Kinish Robotics, thereby internalizing robotic arm-based operation technology.

From May 7 to the end of December last year, the company recorded revenue of 17 billion won and a net loss of 42.2 billion won. Consequently, some interpret this pre-IPO move as a response to Bear Robotics’ growing need to raise external capital to expand its business while operating at a loss.