SK Telecom logo. /Courtesy of SKT

SK Telecom has decided to sell three subsidiaries and a grandchild company to Samgu I&C to concentrate its capabilities on core businesses.

According to the telecommunications industry on the 26th, SK Telecom will sell its subsidiary SK Communications, which operates the portal site Nate and the messenger service NateOn, along with F&U Credit Information and its grandchild company, the welfare platform company SK M&S, to Samgu I&C. The company plans to sell either some or all of the equity in each company. The specific scale of the sale has not been disclosed.

An official from SK Telecom said, "We have decided to sell three subsidiaries and a grandchild company to focus on telecommunications and artificial intelligence (AI) businesses," adding, "Even after the sale, we plan to continue business cooperation with the three companies."

Since around October, SK Group has been selecting underwriters for the sale of SK Communications. SK Communications, which was notable for Cyworld, Nate, and NateOn, struggled as the mobile era arrived, recording an operating loss of over 8.6 billion won last year. In 2015, it attempted to sell to IHQ but was unsuccessful.