Google and LG have worked together numerous times in the past so it was easy to believe the rumor that popped up yesterday morning that Google was planning to purchase 35% of the South Korean company’s shares. Just the rumor of such a deal, which would be worth well over $2 billion, was enough to send LG’s share prices skyrocketing, but sadly, LG has confirmed that the rumor was false, and no such deal is being discussed.
Early Wednesday, a rumour surfaced that Google was planning to buy 35 percent shares — worth around $2.3 billion — of LG Electronics in a block deal to become its biggest shareholder ahead of LG Corporation, the parent company of LG Group affiliate. LG Electronics share prices rose over 11 percent around 47,000 won ($40) in the two hours after the exchange opened. Representatives of both LG Group and LG Electronics denied the rumours. LG Electronics’ shares recently hit a 12-year low, due to lower-than-expected second quarter estimates. Its latest flagship smartphone, the G4, has sold only 250,000 units, compared to rival Samsung’s 1.3 million for the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, according to telco sources. LG Display, the display making affiliate of LG Group, will invest 1.05 trillion won ($902 million) in building a new factory line that will produce plastic organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays. The display maker announced the plan in a regulatory filing on Thursday. The new line will be built at LG’s existing factory at Gumi, Gyeongsang Province.
