This article was published on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 10:00 a.m. on Oct. 2, 2025.
SK Group is wrapping up M&A deals it had been pursuing in quick succession just before the start of the Chuseok holiday. After announcing it would transfer management control of SK discovery subsidiary SK D&D to private equity firm Hahn & Company, it is also likely that SK Innovation's Boryung liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Chungnam and SK Square subsidiary Dreamus Company will find new owners on the 2nd.
However, SK Group has not yet solved two thorny issues that must be resolved within the year. SK Square must reconcile conflicts with financial investors (FI) surrounding its subsidiary 11Street and open them an exit, and SK Corp. must determine a new owner for SK Siltron.
According to investment banking (IB) industry sources on the 2nd, the preferred bidder for the stake purchase in SK Innovation's Boryung LNG terminal is likely to be announced that day. It was reported that SK Innovation is accelerating final review work to select the preferred bidder before the holiday.
At the main bid that closed on the 30th of last month for the 50% stake sale of the Boryung LNG terminal, Macquarie Asset Management, IMM Investment, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), and a consortium of Noa & Partners and Korea Investment & Securities participated. The sale price is likely to be set around 600 billion won.
SK Square is also hurrying to complete the selection of a preferred bidder by that day for Dreamus Company, a subsidiary that operates the music streaming service FLO. A consortium of Daemyung GEC and JC Partners, Busan Equity Partners (EP), and Be My Friends entered the main bid at the end of August, creating a three-way contest. SK Square had long negotiated with Be My Friends over the sale of Dreamus Company and those talks broke down earlier, making further delay difficult now.
A contact in the IB industry said, "It is known that the selection of the preferred bidder for Dreamus Company has been delayed because of a contractual clause that requires Shinhan Venture Investment to be allowed to sell its stake first, but they are trying to decide before the holiday if possible." SK Square holds 38.67% of Dreamus Company and second-largest shareholder Shinhan Venture Investment holds 23.49%, and Shinhan Venture Investment has a tag-along right. In other words, SK Square has the right to demand that it be sold together when SK Square sells its stake. In addition, there is reportedly a special agreement that Shinhan Venture Investment's holdings must be sold preferentially before SK Square's holdings.
The day before, SK discovery announced it would transfer sole management control of its subsidiary SK D&D to Hahn & Company. SK D&D was jointly managed with SK discovery and Hahn & Company each holding 30% stakes, but Hahn & Company plans to buy SK's stake and launch a tender offer for remaining publicly traded shares to voluntarily delist the company. Rumors of the sale of SK D&D had circulated in the market for about a month, and by announcing a new owner just before the holiday, the matter was brought to a close.
With this holiday lasting a full 10 days including the weekend, SK Group seems intent on completing important matters before then where possible. If a preferred bidder is selected for the Boryung LNG terminal that day, it is expected that payment and closing could be completed within the year. Quickly settling the LNG terminal would allow SK Innovation to complete the rebalancing it planned to finish within the year, following the previous asset securitization of about 5 trillion won.
There are still unresolved issues for SK Group. In the case of SK Siltron, while effectively negotiating exclusively with Hahn & Company, it was recently reported that Doosan has shown a strong desire to acquire it, making the outcome uncertain.
SK Square must resolve the 11Street issue. From the 3rd, FIs including H&Q Korea will ask SK Square whether they will exercise call options, and a conclusion could come as early as early November. But because the Chuseok holiday is long, the actual negotiation time available to both sides is less than four weeks. Industry sources say a likely option is for SK to exercise the call option but repay only part first and defer repayment of the remainder.