GS Elevator

GS Elevator Reborn as 'Xi(Zeit) Elevator'

Reach 700 Billion Revenue in 2035 and Reorganize the 4 Elevator Market System

GS Engineering & Construction's Vietnam subsidiary is absorbed in September, enters overseas markets

Separation of conglomerate groups earlier this year, maintaining GS E&C's key partner

Jang Ki-young, CEO of Xi(Zeit) Elevator, talks with reporters after the brand launch event at Xi Gallery in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on the 18th./Photo = Reporter Shin Hye-joo

[Reporter Shin Hye-joo of the Korea Financial Times] GS Elevator will be reborn as Xi(Zeit) Elevator. It is the first official move since the company's change of hands in October last year when GS Engineering & Construction gave more than half of its stake to private equity firm Genesis Essend Limited.

GS Elevator announced on Monday that it will change its name to Xi(Zeit) Elevator from next month. "We want to start as a core partner of GS Engineering & Construction," said Jang Ki-young, CEO of Xi(Zeit) Elevator, at a brand launch event held at Xi Gallery in Gangnam, Seoul. "We will reorganize the domestic elevator market, which is a three-tier system, into four-tier system by 2035.

Xi(Zeit) Elevator has been established for less than five years, and it entered the market at least 20 years and up to 100 years later than Hyundai, TK, and Otis Elevators, which hold the top domestic elevator market share.

Nevertheless, Xi(Zeit) Elevator recently won the largest elevator remodeling project ever, beating them. On the 17th, it was selected as the final winner of the 155 elevator remodeling project to enter LG Metropolitan City in Busan.

The company aims to achieve 700 billion won in sales by 2035. It plans to create a maintenance portfolio of more than 50,000 units and win new orders for 6,000 units a year. It will build 100% artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT)-based elevators and develop ultra-high speed, ultra-low sound, and low vibration technologies.

This year, the company plans to launch belt elevators and introduce new designs and models. Its strategy is to expand six maintenance centers nationwide to eight and establish two branches to respond quickly to elevator failures.

We will use this year as the first year to enter overseas markets, CEO Jang said. "We will maximize synergy by combining Vietnamese factories into one."

Earlier, GS Engineering & Construction established a Vietnamese subsidiary (VGSI) in 2019 and launched a Xi(Zeit) elevator brand in 2020. It is currently working on separating VGSI from GS Engineering & Construction, and will complete the equity settlement within June-September and be incorporated into a 100% subsidiary of Xi(Zeit) Elevator.

By doing so, the company plans to expand into 20 countries overseas. It has now won an order for 50 elevators in Mongolia. Starting with Southeast Asia including Indonesia, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Myanmar, the company plans to expand to Russia, Ukraine, and the Middle East.

Xi(Zeit) is a premium brand of GS E&C. In July 2020, Xi(Zeit) Elevator was launched as Xi Mechanics, a 100% subsidiary of GS E&C. In 2021, it changed its name to GS Elevator. Xi(Zeit) Elevator has received funds from GS E&C. From November 2021 to July 2024, it conducted a paid-in capital increase worth a total of 32.5 billion won nine times.

However, GS Engineering & Construction gave up its largest shareholder status on Oct. 25 last year, handing over its 55 percent stake in the company to Genesis PE. GS Engineering & Construction currently holds a 45 percent stake in the company. As a result, the company was separated from the conglomerate group early this year.

"We were a legal subsidiary of GS Engineering & Construction until last year, but we are now separated," CEO Jang said. "However, GS Engineering & Construction has stipulated the use of the Xi(Zeit) logo. It is an unofficial subsidiary."

"In the future, through the Xi(Zeit) brand, we will be a good option for small and medium-sized construction companies other than GS E&C," he explained.

Genesis PE has a friendly relationship with GS E&C. At the time, Genesis PE promised to invest 100 billion won in Xi(Zeit) Elevator in addition to the stake sale. Although it did not reveal the exact period, it is expected to invest in technology development necessary for the execution of the business in the future.

Jang Ki-young has served as CEO of GS Elevator since its inception. Born in 1968, Jang started his career at Kolon Engineering in 1995. After working in the domestic business department for a year, he joined LG Group through open recruitment in January the following year, and worked in the overseas business department of LG Industrial Complex elevator.

After LG Electronics was merged with Otis Elevator Co., Ltd., he was dispatched as a resident of Otis Elevator Vietnam in April 2007. After working in Vietnam for four and a half years, he became the head of Otis Korea's overseas subsidiary Sigma in October 2011.

After returning to Korea in April 2014, he worked as an exclusive director for Otis Korea Services and moved to Iron Mountain, a global document consignment management company, in January 2019. Lim Byung-yong, vice chairman of GS Engineering & Construction, personally recruited him and joined the company as managing director of GS Engineering & Construction in June 2020. He was appointed as CEO of GS Elevator on July 17, 2020.

Shin Hye-joo, reporter for the Korea Financial Times, hjs0509@fntimes.com