Precious Metals Rally as Silver and Platinum Outperform on Rate Cut Bets 
U.S. Stock Futures Slip After CPI-Fueled Rally as Markets Weigh Economic Uncertainty 
Oracle Stock Surges After Hours on TikTok Deal Optimism and OpenAI Fundraising Buzz 
Global Demand for Yuan Loans and Bonds Surges as China Pushes Currency Internationalization 
Apple Opens iPhone to Alternative App Stores in Japan Under New Competition Law 
Bridgewater Associates Plans Major Employee Ownership Expansion in Milestone Year 
EU Delays Mercosur Free Trade Agreement Signing Amid Ukraine War Funding Talks 
Trump Administration Reviews Nvidia H200 Chip Sales to China, Marking Major Shift in U.S. AI Export Policy 
BoE Set to Cut Rates as UK Inflation Slows, but Further Easing Likely Limited 
U.S. Lawmakers Urge Pentagon to Blacklist More Chinese Tech Firms Over Military Ties 
Harris Associates Open to Revised Paramount Skydance Bid for Warner Bros Discovery 
Canada Signals Delay in US Tariff Deal as Talks Shift to USMCA Review 
New Zealand Business Confidence Hits 30-Year High as Economic Outlook Improves 
TikTok U.S. Deal Advances as ByteDance Signs Binding Joint Venture Agreement 
Kevin Hassett Says Inflation Is Below Target, Backs Trump’s Call for Rate Cuts 
Nike Shares Slide as Margins Fall Again Amid China Slump and Costly Turnaround 
Elliott Management Takes $1 Billion Stake in Lululemon, Pushes for Leadership Change 
SK Group, the second largest company in South Korea, announced on Thursday, Aug. 17, that it has acquired a major controlling stake in Atom Power Inc., a US-based energy solutions firm, to further expand its business in the electric vehicle (EV) charging and digital power distribution sector.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the SK Group is investing some $150 million in the acquisition. It was added that the company is buying the stake in Atom Power together with SK Energy. This means the two units are jointly paying for the entire deal.
Other details of the deal, such as the agreed terms and the exact value of the acquisition, are still not available to the public at this time. Atom Power was revealed to have been founded in 2014, and it mainly develops digital circuit breakers to offer more effective and advanced control of commercial and residential power systems. The company is based in North Carolina and is now offering electrical vehicle charging solutions as well.
“Through the acquisition of Atom Power, we will secure the core technologies to energy solution business, and discover numerous business opportunities, including realizing our energy solution platforms,” SK Inc.’s green investment center head, Kim Moo Hwan, said in a press release,
“Our mission is to power a more intelligent electrification of everything. The EV market is massive, rapidly growing, and desperate for a new way to scale, drive revenue and accelerate adoption,” Ryan Kennedy, the chief executive officer of Atom Power, added. “Our technology is the perfect solution for this perfect storm. SK Group’s partnership helps us expedite and scale power delivery for a broad range of commercial and residential applications.”
Meanwhile, Kang Dong Soo, SK Energy’s head of solution and platform business unit, said that they are really looking forward to the great synergy between its own expertise in the field as the leading operator in the oil market in South Korea and Atom Power’s exclusive technological capacity in the energy solution field.
Kang said that the acquisition deal is definitely a great addition to SK Energy’s portfolio as it makes efforts to become an environmentally-friendly mobility and energy solution service, provider.
