SKC : SK telesys sells telecom biz to PANTECH C&I

• Sale price 78.9 bn won to be spent on biz model innovation to enhance competitiveness

SK telesys, a subsidiary of SKC (President Lee Wan-jae) is selling off its telecom business.

On June 24, SKC disclosed that its subsidiary SK telesys signed a contract for selling its subsidiary SKC infraservice engaging in telecom equipment/network maintenance to PANTECH C&I. The sales price comes to 78.9 billion won. The relevant procedure will be concluded by August.

SK telesys once experienced difficulty after making a foray into the handset business in/around 2011, but recovered with the help of SKC and has recorded profit for four straight years since 2016. SK telesys has come to secure the required funds for its continued business model (BM) innovation with the sell-off. In the future, SK telesys plans to grow with a focus on semiconductor business.

Starting in 2017, SKC strives to focus on BM innovation for making a foray into new future-oriented promising business sectors, such as mobility, semiconductors, eco-friendliness through daring business structure reorganization, and more efficient asset operations.

Last year SKC set mobility material business as its growth engine by taking over a manufacturer of copper foil, a core material for secondary batteries, and renaming it SK nexilis. SK nexilis plans to enhance its copper foil production capacity to more than 200,000 tons/year, the highest capacity in the world, by 2025, by starting to expand production bases in Malaysia and Europe this year.

Looking at similar business structure reorganizations carried out by SKC in the past, it split off its chemical business and established a joint venture with a state-run petroleum business in Kuwait to set a foothold for global expansion. It also sold off its equity in SKC kolon PI, a colored film manufacturer, and SK bioland, the No.1 manufacturer of natural materials of cosmetics in the country, to secure funds for future investments.

SKC and SK telesys plan to accelerate their BM innovation, including focusing on semiconductor business, using the funds secured through the sell-off. Last year SKC took a series of steps to enhance its overall business efficiency including conversion of SKC solmics, the No.1 business in the country in fine ceramics, a raw material for high-precision parts, into a wholly-owned subsidiary, and having the conductor material/parts business integrated into SKC solmics.