Samsung plots massive battery tech investment with… a major rival?!

Samsung Digital Interface, the battery-making arm of the Korean electronics juggernaut, is on the verge of making the most significant long-term investment in its future since… well, it’s been a while. But according to newly emerged media reports, the conglomerate is presently considering joining forces with SK Group in order to pursue a new battery joint venture.

That would be the 95-subsidiary behemoth valued at north of $100 billion, which makes it the third-largest company in South Korea. That SK Group. You know, just in case you feared Samsung was becoming the underdog in the electronics space. Seeing how it’s currently only 4.5 times the size of SK Group and whatnot.

Keep your enemies close, preferably tied to your battery-making capabilities, right?

A Samsung SDI representative confirmed talks with the long-standing rival over new battery investments. Nothing is set in stone just yet, mind you, as per the same source. Seoul has also been considering other potential partners for a next-generation battery venture as of yet. BMW was one of the most curious names being floated around in that context. But that particular partnership is several orders of magnitude less likely to happen than the one that’s now brewing between SK and Samsung Group.

As with other M&A activity that Samsung’s been exhibiting as of late, the chances for this deal to materialize will likely be deeply affected by the outcome of the ongoing legal drama with Samsung’s incarcerated leader, Jay Y. Lee. A conventional heavy-hitting tie-up with another chaebol might also be just what the doctor ordered for Samsung SDI’s stock price. Which hasn’t been at its most glamorous lately, courtesy of Samsung’s unique EV strategy, among other things.