South Korea’s SK Group may sell some South-east Asia assets

SOUTH Korea’s second-largest conglomerate SK Group is considering selling some of its assets in South-east Asia and reinvesting in other businesses in countries in the region, including Vietnam, a South Korean newspaper reported.

“We are considering some asset adjustments as part of regular changes to our portfolio from time to time, but nothing has been confirmed yet,” an SK official said.

“Even if some assets are adjusted, we will use it to reinvest in other growth areas in Vietnam,” the official said.

Vietnam, where Samsung Electronics makes half of its global smartphone output, and South Korea earlier this month upgraded their relations to “comprehensive strategic partnership”, which Vietnam has so far established only with China, Russia and India.

The conglomerate plans to decide which assets to potentially sell depending on buyers’ offers, and is considering reinvesting some of the proceeds from any stake sales in local firms, South Korean newspaper the Korea Economic Daily reported on Sunday (Dec 25) citing unnamed investment banking sources.

An industry source, however, said SK Group was planning to expand its team in Vietnam despite preliminary talks with a buyer to sell some of its assets there.

Via an investment vehicle, the Korean company is the fourth-largest investor in Vingroup, Vietnam’s largest conglomerate, according to Refinitiv. Its combined investment in Vingroup and Masan Group, Vietnam’s second-largest conglomerate, is worth over US$1 billion.

A Vingroup spokesperson said on Monday that SK Group had no intention of selling Vingroup shares.

Assets held by SK Group’s South-east Asia investment firm that could be sold, according to the paper, also include stakes in Vietnam’s retail pharmacy chain Pharmacity, retailer VinCommerce and consumer retail platform The Crown X.

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It also has a stake in Malaysian fintech company Big Pay, the paper said. REUTERS