Focus on Chairman Chey Tae-won’s stake disposal Doosan doubles down on semiconductor and advanced materials business
SK headquarters in Jongno-gu, Seoul. 2020.8.25 ⓒ News1
SK Inc. has decided to sell its stake in SK Siltron, a semiconductor wafer manufacturer, to Doosan Corporation. Doosan will be able to use this acquisition as a springboard to strengthen its semiconductor business segment.
On the 31st, SK Inc. and Doosan Corporation each held board meetings and approved the signing of a share purchase agreement (SPA) for the sale of SK Siltron. This comes seven months after Doosan was selected as the preferred bidder. The transaction involves a 70.6% stake in SK Siltron, with a deal value of KRW 2.3 trillion. Although the process went through twists and turns — including a postponement of the board meeting after calls within the SK Group to review the sale in light of the recent recovery in the semiconductor industry — the company proceeded with the divestment as originally planned. SK stated, “The sale was decided to secure the group’s financial stability and to invest in new businesses.”
Attention is also focusing on the handling of the 29.4% stake held by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, the second-largest shareholder of SK Siltron. Having transferred management control to Doosan, he is now in a position to remain as the second-largest shareholder; however, in light of a recent court ruling requiring him to pay KRW 944 billion in cash as a division of property to Noh So-young, director of Art Center Nabi, there is speculation that he will eventually liquidate his stake to raise funds.
Doosan is moving to strengthen its semiconductor business portfolio through the acquisition of SK Siltron. Together with its energy businesses (Doosan Enerbility, Doosan Fuel Cell) and smart machine businesses (Doosan Bobcat, Doosan Robotics), it aims to reinforce its semiconductor and advanced materials division as one of the group’s three core business pillars. In particular, once the acquisition of SK Siltron is completed, Doosan will secure a semiconductor value chain that spans both front-end and back-end processes.
Doosan expects the Siltron wafer business to grow at an annual average rate in the 7% range and is targeting sales of KRW 3 trillion by 2031.
Lee Dong-hoon 기자 dhlee@donga.com;Lee Won-joo 기자 takeoff@donga.com
AI-translated with ChatGPT. Provided as is; original Korean text prevails.
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