Taihan Electric Wire
Expands Business Portfolio
to Leisure Industry
Trying to transform itself with an aggressive and ambitious expansion plan

Taihan Electric Wires' head office in Heohyeon-dong across the road from the hustling-bustling Namdaemun Market never carries signboards indicating his company name or logo - a management policy the company, specializing only one sector - the wire and cable industry, has been reluctant to publicize it and take a low profile.
However, things have changed dramatically these days. Taihan Electric Wire, celebrating the 50th anniversary of its foundation, has diversified its business portfolio at a dizzying pace. Taihan Electric Wire will solidify its mainstay wire and cable business, while expanding its business portfolio to include the leisure industry.
Korea's first wire and cable company, Taihan Electric Wire has grown into a company with a competitive edge in the power, communications and metal industry. Recognizing a limit of the company's future growth, Taihan Electric Wire has put more energy into making a foray into other business arenas in an aggressive manner. The company successively took over the sprawling Muju Resort on Mt. Deokyu in Muju, North Jeolla Province, and SBW, known well as Ssangbangwool, an apparel company with its premium brand "Try". This month, Taihan has been designated as an exemplary company to undertake the ambitious Muju Corporate Town Project, approved by the central and local governments.
The company is diversifying its business portfolios covering such arenas as even the IT industry. Taihan Electric Wire also entered the IT industrial sector last April as it acquired a home network server maker. The home network server company is participating in a consortium, headed by LG Electronics, competing over the standardization of the emerging home network industry.
Taihan Electric Wire's turnabout in the business strategy comes almost 20 years after the company disposed of its home appliance assembly lines of TVs and refrigerators in 1983. The company is working on a new corporate identity corresponding to the business portfolio with a wide range of business arenas on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its inception in a bid to take a new leap.
Taihan Electric Wire, having strengthened its presence in the domestic leisure industry, has gained a momentum as it has been designated as an exemplary developer of the ambitious Muju Corporate Town Project near Muju Resort. The project calls for the construction of the tentatively named Slovalley encompassing eight arenas including sports and well-being centers with such auxiliary facilities as a 45-hole golf course, a water park and a camping site. The company plans to complete a master plan for the project by the end of this year before purchasing land plots in earnest from next year. Taihan Electric Wire wants to develop the Slovalley as its core business by 2009 when the first phase stage is complete by raising the synergetic effects with the existing Muju Resort business.
In a related development, the company is expanding the infrastructure of Muju Resort like the reconstruction of the golf club house last March.
Taihan Electric Wire also acquired Seonwoon Valley in Gochang, North Jeolla Province, as part of its efforts to reinforce its presence in the leisure industry.
Ha Sung-im, managing director of Taihan Electric Wire, said the wire and cable division still remain a core business sector with 600 billion won in annual sales, but the growth trend will likely slow down and the leisure industry is expected to emerge as its stable growth engine when the corporate town project ends. Lim Chong-wook, president-CEO of Taihan Electric Wire, is orchestrating the company's program to diversify its business portfolio. He is optimistic about the prospects of the Muju Corporate Town Project, saying that his company will devote its efforts to transform the project into a representative one with a high value by channeling 1.5 trillion won into the project, and prospective investors, including foreign banks, are making investment proposals, so no problem in financing is seen.
President Lim said the planned Muju Corporate Town would be an example of success stories in consideration of its access and pristine natural conditions, considered as essential factors for creating a high value, adding that the project would have synergetic effects with the Muju Resort, within a two-km distance from the planned corporate town, and the projected Taekwondo (Korean martial art) Park,
He noted that as it comes to M&As, the credit of the M&A target company is more important than funding. Taihan Electric Wire has a strategy to maintain the wire and cable industry as its core business sector while at the same time fostering the leisure industry as one of its futuristic core businesses. The company will continue to make investments and M&A into blue-chip companies in the leisure industry, he added. nw

Lim Chong-wook, president-CEO of Taihan Electric Wire. (right) The fascinating night view of Muju Resort on Mt. Deokyu. Taihan Electric Wire is aggressively expanding its business portfolio to the leisure industry.