Key Takeaways
- • SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won agreed to sell a 1.34% stake in holding company SK Inc to DFO Public Investments, L.P., an investment fund affiliated with DFO Management, the family investment office of Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell, for 544 billion won ($406 million), according to a regulatory filing reported by Reuters.
- • The sale is part of Chey's plan to raise 944 billion won through share sales to fund a divorce settlement with his former wife.
- • Earlier in October, SK Inc disclosed that Chey had agreed to sell 1.65 million shares (2.26%) for 944 billion won, with 681,431 shares (0.94%) going to Korea Investment & Securities for 400 billion won.
- • The Korea Corporate Governance Forum warned that Chey and the buyers may need to disclose joint holdings if they informally agreed to vote together, and failure to do so could violate South Korea's capital markets law.
Summary
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won has agreed to sell a 1.34% stake in SK Inc, the holding company for the SK Group, to an investment fund linked to Michael Dell, according to a regulatory filing reported by Reuters on Wednesday, October 14. The transaction values the 972,493 shares at 544 billion won, or $406 million at the exchange rate of 1,339.6 won to the dollar.
The buyer, DFO Public Investments, L.P., is a Delaware-based investment fund affiliated with DFO Management, the family investment office of Michael Dell. Dell Technologies, a major supplier of AI servers and data center infrastructure, has business ties with SK Hynix, the group's memory chipmaking unit, but the stake is being acquired by the family fund rather than by Dell Technologies itself.
The sale forms part of a broader plan by Chey to raise 944 billion won through share sales to pay a divorce settlement to his former wife. Earlier this month, SK Inc disclosed that Chey had agreed to sell 1.65 million shares, or a 2.26% stake, for 944 billion won. Of those shares, 681,431 (0.94%) will be sold to Korea Investment & Securities for 400 billion won. SK had initially identified the remaining buyer only as a strategic investor, saying it had weighed SK Inc's business competitiveness and medium- to long-term growth prospects.
Reuters noted that in May it had reported global technology companies approaching SK Hynix with proposals to invest in dedicated memory chip production lines and help finance costly manufacturing equipment as they sought secure supplies amid booming AI demand. The article did not link that reporting directly to the current transaction.
The Korea Corporate Governance Forum, an independent watchdog, said Chey and the buyers would be required to disclose their holdings as joint holdings if they had agreed, even informally, to exercise voting rights in the same way, and that failure to do so would violate South Korea's capital markets law. The forum said a strategic investor had suggested their interests could be aligned, raising the possibility that the fund could be deemed a joint holder with Chey under the law.
The buyer, DFO Public Investments, L.P., is a Delaware-based investment fund affiliated with DFO Management, the family investment office of Michael Dell. Dell Technologies, a major supplier of AI servers and data center infrastructure, has business ties with SK Hynix, the group's memory chipmaking unit, but the stake is being acquired by the family fund rather than by Dell Technologies itself.
The sale forms part of a broader plan by Chey to raise 944 billion won through share sales to pay a divorce settlement to his former wife. Earlier this month, SK Inc disclosed that Chey had agreed to sell 1.65 million shares, or a 2.26% stake, for 944 billion won. Of those shares, 681,431 (0.94%) will be sold to Korea Investment & Securities for 400 billion won. SK had initially identified the remaining buyer only as a strategic investor, saying it had weighed SK Inc's business competitiveness and medium- to long-term growth prospects.
Reuters noted that in May it had reported global technology companies approaching SK Hynix with proposals to invest in dedicated memory chip production lines and help finance costly manufacturing equipment as they sought secure supplies amid booming AI demand. The article did not link that reporting directly to the current transaction.
The Korea Corporate Governance Forum, an independent watchdog, said Chey and the buyers would be required to disclose their holdings as joint holdings if they had agreed, even informally, to exercise voting rights in the same way, and that failure to do so would violate South Korea's capital markets law. The forum said a strategic investor had suggested their interests could be aligned, raising the possibility that the fund could be deemed a joint holder with Chey under the law.
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