GM Korea to Spin Off Tech Center Unit on Jan. 2

General Motors Co. plans to spin off its South Korean unit’s r&d activities on Dec. 31 and register the unit as GM Technical Center Korea on Jan. 2, The Korea Herald reports.

GM says the deal was finalized after GM Korea’s second-largest shareholder, the state-run Korea Development Bank with a 17% stake, agreed to support the move. KDB had filed an injunction in September to block the spinoff pending further details about the plan.

Roberto Rempel, currently GM’s executive chief engineer for global vehicle programs, will head the Korean tech unit. GM says the center will focus on the design and development of SUV/crossover vehicles.

GM Korea lost 3.1 trillion won ($2.9 billion) between 2014 and 2017. In February the unit announced it was closing its assembly plan in Gunsan. The GM affiliate won labor concessions and arranged a $750 million bailout package from KDB before revealing plans to spin off tech operations.

GM Korea employs about 13,000 people. Roughly 3,000 of them are expected to transfer to the new tech center. The company’s unionized workforce in Korea remains suspicious that the spinoff portends a longer-term GM plan to shut down its carmaking operations in the country.