SK Group, which has been using aggressive investment and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as its growth engine, is changing.
Since SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won mentioned the "Sudden Death" crisis, he has actively started working on "losing weight" such as reducing manpower and selling assets.
According to the business community on the 7th, SK Nexilis, an investor in SKC's secondary battery copper foil business, is applying for voluntary retirement from this month. Employees with more than five years of service are eligible.
It is the first time that SK Nexilis has made voluntary retirement since it was acquired under SK Group in 2020.
SK Hynix's foundry subsidiary System IC has decided to allow some employees to move to DB Hi-tech, a domestic foundry company in the same industry.
They decided not to resign as recommended or retire as much as possible, but to open up the turnover in the same industry to extend the careers of executives and employees.
In general, the semiconductor industry prohibits executives and employees from changing jobs in the same industry due to their sensitivity to technology leakage. As a result, SK Hynix's System IC's decision alone is causing tension in the organization.
SK Group is also speeding up its "rebalancing" work to adjust its business portfolio through asset sales.
Earlier in February, SK Erceon, an oil development subsidiary of SK Innovation, sold its 20% stake in Peru's LNG mine to Mid-Ocean Energy for 340 billion won. The move is aimed at reducing LNG businesses overlapping with affiliates and focusing more on future growth businesses.
SK Networks is seeking to sell SK Rent-a-Car to Affinity Equity Partners, a foreign private equity fund (PEF), after selling some home appliance goodwill to its subsidiary SK Magic. The estimated sale price amounts to 850 billion won.
SK Networks is selling SK Rent-a-Car, which has been a net company and cash cow, because it wants to speed up its transition to an AI (artificial intelligence) company.
SK Networks, which started as a subsidiary of a large conglomerate's general trading company, has changed its business structure by conducting rental businesses such as home appliances, but has recently reorganized its portfolio as an AI company.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system, SK's total assets classified as scheduled to be sold last year totaled KRW 1.3471 trillion.
This is the sum of the assets confirmed by the original buyer and the assets that decided to sell internally. It has more than doubled from 595.5 billion won in 2022.
This is because the company has launched intensive renovations throughout its business as concerns over worsening profitability and a prolonged economic downturn have been prolonged.
In particular, the business community believes that SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won pointed out SK Group's lax investment, and after SK Supex Pursuit Council Chairman Choi Chang-won took office, overlapping businesses between affiliates are being adjusted and non-core businesses are being arranged more boldly.
An official from the business community said, "We are realizing that SK Group's management stance has recently changed from 'expansion' to 'tightening'," and "rebalancing work is in full swing to optimize the business again by affiliates."
SK Group is expected to examine the rebalancing business of each affiliate at the expansion management meeting next month, while sharing the remaining tasks at the group level.
