SEOUL, March 02 (AJP) -The long-running governance overhaul of South Korea's top automobile conglomerate Hyundai Motor Group could finally gain traction as a potential initial public offering of its robotics unit Boston Dynamics moves closer to reality.
The automaker officially maintains that “no plans have been set,” but industry observers say preparations for a possible Nasdaq listing are increasingly visible behind the scenes.
More importantly, the IPO is widely seen not merely as a capital market event, but as a strategic lever that could unlock Executive Chair Euisun Chung’s long-delayed restructuring agenda.
Boston Dynamics has undergone a dramatic revaluation since Hyundai Motor Group acquired an 80 percent stake from SoftBank in 2021, when the company was valued at roughly $1.1 billion.
After years of heavy investment and mounting losses, sentiment shifted following the unveiling of the new electric humanoid Atlas platform and expanded AI collaborations during the CES show in Las Vegas in January.
Analysts now estimate the company’s enterprise value in a far higher range — from 30 trillion won to over 100 trillion won — depending on commercialization assumptions.
KB Securities projects that the global humanoid robot market could reach 9.6 million units annually by 2035, with Boston Dynamics capturing about 15 percent market share. On that basis, it estimates a potential valuation of 128 trillion won. Hanwha Investment & Securities has suggested an even higher figure of roughly 146 trillion won under aggressive growth scenarios.
More conservative analysts place the valuation closer to 30 trillion to 40 trillion won, citing the company’s financial track record.
From 2022 through the third quarter of 2025, Boston Dynamics recorded cumulative revenue of 390.7 billion won but accumulated losses of 1.38 trillion won. Hyundai Motor Group has injected 3.28 trillion won in capital to prevent impairment.
Yet even at the lower end of the valuation spectrum, the IPO math materially alters Hyundai’s governance calculus.
Chung holds a 21.9 percent stake in Boston Dynamics. If the company lists at 40 trillion won, his stake would be worth more than 8 trillion won. At higher valuation assumptions, liquidity from partial share sales could reach tens of trillions of won.
Hyundai Motor Group remains the only top-10 Korean conglomerate that still maintains a circular shareholding structure. The core loops — Hyundai Mobis → Hyundai Motor → Kia → Hyundai Mobis, along with two additional chains involving Hyundai Steel and Hyundai Glovis — have long been criticized for opacity and systemic risk.
At the apex sits Hyundai Mobis, which owns 22.4 percent of Hyundai Motor. However, Chung’s direct stake in Mobis stands at just 0.33 percent.
The most straightforward restructuring scenario would involve Chung significantly increasing his stake in Hyundai Mobis, consolidating control under a simplified structure of “Chung family → Hyundai Mobis → Hyundai Motor → Kia.”
Such a move requires substantial capital.
If Chung inherited the 7.38 percent Hyundai Mobis stake held by Honorary Chairman Mong-koo Chung, inheritance taxes — levied at up to 60 percent — are estimated at 7 trillion to 8 trillion won. Additional funds would be needed to purchase Mobis shares from affiliates such as Hyundai Steel and Kia, depending on the restructuring blueprint.
An IPO windfall from Boston Dynamics would provide the liquidity necessary to execute such transactions without excessive leverage.
“A Boston Dynamics listing would be the best card Hyundai can play,” an industry official said. “It would cement the company’s valuation in the public markets while simultaneously easing capital pressure tied to governance reform.”
Automotive industry sources expect Hyundai Motor Group to file preliminary listing documents in the first half of this year, select underwriters, and potentially proceed with a Nasdaq debut in early next year.
The listing clause in the original acquisition agreement envisioned an IPO within four years. However, expanded R&D spending and accumulated losses delayed the plan as Hyundai sought a more favorable valuation environment.
Commercial scaling remains a key variable. Hyundai aims to establish an annual production capacity of 30,000 robots in the United States by 2028, meaning full-scale revenue ramp-up is unlikely before then.
Until commercialization stabilizes, an IPO remains one of the most efficient tools for securing external capital.
Hyundai executives remain reserved. “Nothing has been confirmed yet,” said Lee Seung-jo, CFO and chief strategy officer of Hyundai Motor, during an earnings call in January. Vice Chairman Jae-hoon Chang likewise said discussions would be addressed “at a more concrete stage.”
Beyond governance mechanics, the IPO underscores Hyundai’s broader transformation. Robotics — alongside advanced air mobility and autonomous driving — has been designated as a core future growth engine.
Boston Dynamics has commercialized Spot and Stretch, and is accelerating humanoid development through partnerships with Nvidia and Toyota Research Institute. The electric Atlas platform is expected to begin factory-level proof-of-technology testing within Hyundai Motor Group facilities as early as next year.
Global market forecasts reinforce the long-term bet. MarketsandMarkets projects the industrial robotics market to reach $35 billion by 2030, while the humanoid segment is expected to expand to $18 billion from just $2 billion in 2024.
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