Samsung SDS, together with Samsung Securities and Samsung Card, has moved in earnest to expand its digital asset business by acquiring a 4% equity stake in Dunamu held by Kakao affiliates for 612.8 billion won. With this investment, the company plans to actively grow the digital asset business—identified by Samsung SDS President Lee June-hee as a future growth pillar alongside the artificial intelligence (AI) data center.
Ahead of acquiring the Dunamu equity stake, Samsung SDS said it would invest about 10 trillion won in AI infrastructure by 2031, and shares have rallied as the company unveiled a series of major plans over the past two months. At the end of last month, the stock hit the daily upper limit, the first time since Samsung SDS listed in Nov. 2014.
According to Samsung SDS on the 1st, the company secured major shareholder status in Dunamu, the operator of the virtual asset exchange Upbit, through this transaction. The equity ratios are Samsung Securities 2.0%, Samsung SDS 1.0%, and Samsung Card 1.0%. Samsung SDS invested 153.2 billion won.
Samsung SDS said it decided to make a strategic equity investment in Dunamu with Samsung Securities and Samsung Card to create new business opportunities related to digital assets. The move factors in that, once a won-denominated stablecoin and security token offerings (STOs) enter the regulatory framework, exchanges will expand their business scope. To seize leadership in the digital finance ecosystem, the three Samsung affiliates made a preemptive investment.
In particular, analysts say Samsung SDS is focusing on the growing demand for financial infrastructure as the scope of digital assets expands. The strategy is to strengthen next-generation digital finance infrastructure projects for domestic financial companies by combining the company's IT services, AI, cloud, security, and data management technologies with Dunamu's blockchain operating know-how.
If a won-denominated stablecoin, security token offerings, and digital payments are incorporated into the regulatory system, financial companies will not only develop related apps and services but also need to newly build issuance, distribution, redemption, settlement, security, data management, and AI infrastructure. Samsung SDS plans to target that infrastructure demand. In fact, as the importance of security and data control has grown in finance, public, and manufacturing sectors, demand has increased for private AI infrastructure based on internal business systems, and major domestic IT service companies such as Samsung SDS, LG CNS, and SK AX have expanded AI and cloud businesses based on such AX (AI transformation) demand.
At the shareholders meeting in March, Samsung SDS said it is operating a dedicated organization to proactively respond to the expansion of the digital asset market. The company has also won contracts for Korea Securities Depository (KSD)'s security token offerings projects for three consecutive years, accelerating efforts to build capabilities in related businesses.
The market is also watching whether Samsung SDS's series of investment plans will affect the future share price trend. Samsung SDS shares have been strong, hitting a 52-week high recently. On the 29th of last month, the stock closed at 299,000 won, up 20.3% from the previous day. The market views Samsung SDS as a beneficiary of infrastructure such as AI data centers, a factor seen as adding momentum to the stock.
Samsung SDS declared it will invest 10 trillion won by 2031 to pursue an AI full-stack strategy. Specifically, it plans to invest 5 trillion won in AI infrastructure, including the Gumi AI data center; 1 trillion won in AI services and platforms/solutions; and 4 trillion won in strategic mergers and acquisitions (M&A). As part of that, last month it raised 1.2 trillion won in investment from global private equity firm KKR. The plan is to use the newly secured funds along with 6.4 trillion won in existing cash-like assets.
At this year's shareholders meeting, Samsung SDS President Lee June-hee said, "We judge this year to be a critical period that will determine the leadership of the AI and cloud markets, so we will prioritize using our cash holdings for capital expenditures (CAPEX) and M&A with a focus on growth," and added, "To secure future growth engines, we are pushing the AI data center business and data center DBO (design, build, operate) business as new ventures, and we are also reviewing areas such as stablecoins and physical AI on the premise of commercialization."
The market is evaluating the aggressive investment plans positively. Until now, Samsung SDS had been criticized for lacking growth potential because it was said to be "just piling up cash," and as a result the share price, which nearly reached 300,000 won in 2015, at one point fell into the 120,000-won range last year.
Im Hee-seok, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities, said, "Samsung SDS's 10 trillion won investment will lift its mid- to long-term growth potential," and noted, "Expectations for a recovery in growth driven by expanded AI-related investment are likely to materialize in earnest after the second half."