SK Group is teaming up with global private equity fund manager KKR to integrate its renewable energy businesses. After selling the renewable energy businesses of SK eternix and SK Innovation E&S, and the renewable energy business of SK ecoplant to KKR as a package, it will acquire equity in a renewable energy joint venture (JV).
On the 12th, according to the investment banking (IB) industry, SK Group selected KKR as the preferred bidder for the sale of major renewable businesses within the group, including management control of SK eternix.
The assets for sale are the 30.98% management-control equity in SK eternix held by SK Discovery, the SK Innovation E&S renewable energy business, and the renewable energy business of SK ecoplant. The equity in Bloom SK Fuel Cell, a joint venture established by SK ecoplant and Bloom Energy, is said to be excluded from the sale. The deal size is said to be around 1.8 trillion won. Deloitte Anjin is the sell-side advisor.
In the SK eternix acquisition race, large global managers including KKR, EQT Partners, Macquarie Asset Management, and Brookfield Asset Management are said to have participated, engaging in fierce competition. In particular, it reportedly came down to a two-way contest between EQT Partners and KKR until the end, but KKR ultimately gained the upper hand.
SK eternix was spun off from SK D&D in Mar. 2024. It is engaged in renewable energy businesses such as solar, wind, energy storage systems (ESS), and fuel cells. It currently operates 36 solar power plants and 28 ESS facilities nationwide. Recently, it has been expanding into operation solutions that combine artificial intelligence (AI) and the cloud, as well as the U.S. power trading market.
SK Group's decision to proceed with this sale is part of a groupwide business restructuring "rebalancing" effort.
KKR is strengthening its presence as a key partner in SK Group's business restructuring process. Recently, it also participated in the acquisition race for a minority stake in the Ulsan artificial intelligence (AI) data center and Ulsan GPS·SK Multi-Utility.