[Edaily Reporter Park Min-woong ] SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won is selling a portion of his shares in SK Corp. to raise personal funds related to a property division lawsuit. Despite the large-scale sale of shares, the company plans to minimize the impact on the market and maintain its status as the largest shareholder to ensure the continued management stability of the SK Group.
SK Corp. disclosed a “Report on the Transaction Plan for Specific Securities by Executives and Major Shareholders” on the 2nd, detailing the sale of 1,653,924 shares held by Chairman Choi, the company’s largest shareholder. The actual transaction is scheduled to take place one month after the disclosure.
This share sale is intended to meet Chairman Choi’s personal financial needs related to a property division lawsuit. The scale of this sale matches the 944 billion won in property division payments recognized in the retrial. Previously, in July, the Seoul High Court ruled in the retrial of the property division lawsuit between Chairman Choi and Noh So-young, director of the Art Center Nabi, that Chairman Choi must pay Director Noh 944 billion won in cash as property division compensation.
Chairman Choi plans to dispose of the large block of shares through after-hours block trading rather than selling them all at once on the regular market. Of this amount, 544 billion won will be sold to strategic investors. The remaining 400 billion won will be traded with securities firms via a Price Return Swap (PRS) arrangement.
A PRS is a structure in which gains and losses are settled between the contracting parties based on future fluctuations in SK Corp.’s stock price. Accordingly, even after selling a portion of his stake, Chairman Choi will be able to continue sharing in the growth of SK Corp.’s enterprise value for a certain period. SK explained that it comprehensively considered the company’s business competitiveness and medium- to long-term growth potential during the selection process for strategic investors.
Upon completion of this transaction, Chairman Choi’s holdings of SK Inc. common stock will decrease from 12,975,472 shares to 11,321,548 shares. His ownership stake will drop from 17.8% to 15.5%. The ownership stake, including related parties, will also change from 25.2% to 22.9%.
Based on voting shares, Chairman Choi’s ownership stake will drop from 23.9% to 20.8%, and the ownership stake, including related parties, will be adjusted from 33.5% to 30.5%. However, Chairman Choi will retain his status as the largest shareholder even after the transaction. The ownership stake, including related parties, will also remain above 20%, and based on voting shares, it will remain above 30%.
SK Inc. explained that this transaction is being carried out in a manner that does not affect the stability of the company’s management. Chairman Choi also reviewed the transaction structure and scale to ensure he could continue to fulfill his responsibilities as the largest shareholder while minimizing the impact on the market and shareholders during the share sale process.
Chairman Choi plans to continue focusing on responsible management and enhancing SK Inc.’s corporate value. SK Inc. also intends to consistently pursue its existing growth strategies, investment plans, and policies to enhance shareholder value.
