SKT Vice President Jeong-ho Park was established … “AI Big Tech” quickly moved on as a holding company

Input 2020.12.03 13:52 | Revision 2020.12.03 14:08

Park Jung-ho, president of SK Telecom, was promoted to vice president and also headed Hynix
President Tae-won Choi, a close friend of the group and “conversion to holding” as an M&A expert within the group
“After switching to an intermediate holding, SK Group’s ICT affiliates are likely to handle the overall management”

SK Telecom Park President Jung-ho was promoted to Vice President during SK Group CEO greetings on the 3rd. Vice President Park will also assume the position of Vice President of SK Hynix. Vice President Park was established to oversee the management of SK Telecom and SK Hynix.

This greeting should give impetus to the AI ​​(artificial intelligence) semiconductor business that SK Telecom is promoting as the next generation growth engine. It is an observation that SK Telecom will move beyond the domain of telecom services companies and evolve into a large technology company responsible for AI-related businesses.

Additionally, there are also observations that SK Telecom will accelerate its transition to an intermediate holding that oversees the SK Group’s ICT manufacturing and services operations. SK Telecom is expected to become a “large technology holding” competing with large global technology companies such as Google and Facebook.

◇ SK Telecom seems to accelerate the transition to an intermediate holding … The hidden variable is the “Amendment to the Fair Trade Act”

According to the business world on the 3rd, SK Telecom (017670)When president Park Jung-ho, who leads the company, is promoted to vice president and takes over the management of SK Hynix, there are observations that the construction of an intermediate IT holding of the SK group will emerge.

After splitting SK Telecom into a telecommunications company and an investment and holding company, the plan is to make the investment and holding companies comprise the ICT subsidiaries of the SK group such as SK Broadband and SK Hynix. A picture is opening up of SK Telecom’s transformation into an intermediate holding that oversees ICT affiliates within the SK Group. The dominant view of having Vice President Park overseeing the management of SK Hynix is ​​the preliminary suspension of the move to an intermediate holding.

The amendment to the Fair Trade Act, presented to the National Assembly, is also cited as a factor that has accelerated SK Telecom’s transition to an intermediate holding. According to the bill, the burden of converting a new holding company or subsidiaries incorporated into a holding company will increase from 20% of branches and 40% of branches to 30% and 50% respectively.

If the transition to an intermediate holding is defined as an act equivalent to setting up a new holding, SK Telecom should increase its stake in SK Hynix from the current 20.1% to over 30%. Considering the operating situation of SK Telecom, whose cash and cash equivalents have fallen below KRW 1 trillion since the third quarter of 2018, securing an additional stake in SK Hynix is ​​a difficult task.

For this reason, in order for SK Telecom’s transition to an intermediate holding company to be promoted without legal risk, all transitions must be completed before 2022, when the revised Fair Trade Act comes into effect. Yoon Pung-young, head of SK Telecom’s corporate center (CFO), said: “Through a conference call for earnings announcements in May last year, the move to an intermediate holding will be promoted when the branch portfolio is completed.” .

◇ As an M&A expert, “Win and Win” … Vice President Park Jung-ho Advocates Corporate Reorganization with AI semiconductor

It is also assessed that the promotion of Vice President Park Jung-ho demonstrates SK Telecom’s strong willingness to reorganize its business to transcend the boundaries of telecommunications services companies. Vice President Park will be able to accelerate SK Telecom’s AI (artificial intelligence) semiconductor business by overseeing the management of SK Hynix.

SK Telecom unveiled its AI’SAPEON X220 semiconductor ‘for data sensors at the’ Korean Version New Deal Meets Artificial Intelligence of Korea ‘held in Kintex, Ilsan on the 25th of last month. SK Telecom stressed: “Through the launch of this AI semiconductor, we have cast a mark in the future semiconductor market centered on large global technology companies like Nvidia, Intel and Google.”

SK Telecom has a strategy to evolve into a large artificial intelligence technology company providing artificial intelligence services from semiconductor chip-based hardware to software such as artificial intelligence algorithms and APIs across the AI ​​semiconductor business. It’s a “post-communication” strategy to emerge as a large global tech company that will take on Google and Facebook with AI as a weapon.

After taking office as CEO of SK Telecom, Vice President Park Jung-ho expanded the business area by acquiring ADT Caps, the second largest physical security industry after Samsung S1, and incorporating SK Infosec as a subsidiary. Recently, ADT Caps and SK Infosec merged and proposed a plan to increase business value as an IPO as a convergence security company. Additionally, in 2019, SK Broadband’s online video service (OTT) “Oksusu” and three land-based companies “POOQ” were successfully merged.

SK Telecom plans to unbundle its current mobility business and establish Tmap Mobility (tentative name) later this year. The first listed company among its subsidiaries was “One Store,” which was selected as a listed host company in September and set a goal of completing an IPO (public disclosure) around the second half of next year.

◇ ICT corporate reorganization, strengthening the power of President Tae-won Choi

Since Vice President Park Jung-ho is the closest friend of SK Group President Choi Tae-won, there are also observations that such a reorganization of the business will lead to the strengthening of President Choi’s dominance in the ICT sector. After joining Sunkyung in 1989, Vice President Park, head of SK Telecom’s New York branch, head of the CR support team at the SK Group Investment Management Office (Executive Director), Head of SK Division Communications Business Development, head of SK Telecom Business Development division (vice president) and president of SK C&C CEO, etc. Got through. Vice President Park led the acquisition of Hynix from SK Group and is deeply involved in SK Hynix’s 2017 acquisition of Toshiba, Japan, as well as accompanying President Choi on a business trip to Japan and is considered a M&A expert within the group.

It is also at odds with the changes in the system of SK Telecom and rival telecom companies. Unlike SK Telecom, who was originally the president and system CEO, KT (030200)Wow LG Uplus (032640)He was chairman and vice chairman respectively until the appointment of CEO Sue Sang-mo and Hwang Hyun-sik. However, both companies have strengthened their status by switching to SK Telecom’s current president and CEO system and SK Telecom’s holographic vice president system.