Chiel Industries Inc. is a unit of Samsung Group, the biggest business conglomerate in South Korea. The company said it would sell its fashion unit to unlisted affiliate, Samsung Everland. The move was said to be a strategic shift to focus on electronics materials.

The sale of the fashion business was valued USD968.6 million. The strategic shift was done by Samsung Group after it had been seeking to tighten its grip on electronics components and materials. Samsung wanted to be on top of the game play as it battles global competitors such as Apple Inc. which has recently released its new sets of handheld phones.

Chiel Industries was established in 1954 as a textile firm. In the 1980s, the then textile company expanded to become a fashion business and later into electronics materials. Chiel saw that its fortunes were increasing rapidly in the IT industry. This was after supply deals to Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. and electronic parts affiliates increased.

The fashion unit only generated 30% of its total revenue last year. The rest came from electronics materials and chemical operations. Chiel Industries has been a maker of electronics components including flat-screen films and poly carbonate used in smartphones.

Chiel increase 4.8% to three months high right after the announced sale.