SK Group Prepares Sale of Ulsan Data Center Stake
On August 27, SK Group announced a proposed sale of a 49% stake in its Ulsan AI data center to KKR and a consortium of IMM Investment and Stonebridge Capital. The Korea Economic Daily reports the transaction is valued at about 3 trillion won ($2.2 billion), with SK Telecom retaining a 51% controlling stake and using proceeds to support construction and expansion.
SK Group announced on August 27 a proposed sale of a 49% stake in its Ulsan AI data center to KKR and a consortium comprising IMM Investment and Stonebridge Capital. The Korea Economic Daily reports that the transaction is expected to be worth about 3 trillion won ($2.2 billion), while SK Telecom would retain a 51% stake and control of the project.
The Korea Economic Daily, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that SK Telecom and SK Broadband were expected to convene separate board meetings on August 27 to approve a share purchase agreement and a spinoff of the data center business. The report described the agreement as a planned transaction rather than a completed closing.
Under the proposed ownership structure, KKR would acquire 29%, while IMM Investment and Stonebridge Capital would acquire 20%. SK Broadband is expected to spin off the Ulsan operation into a separate company, which would initially be wholly owned by SK Telecom before the investors acquire their stakes, according to the Korea Economic Daily.
Transaction structure and valuation
The Korea Economic Daily reports that the deal would combine sales of existing shares with a new share issuance. About 1.2 trillion won is expected to be raised through the capital increase, and the facility could carry an enterprise value of as much as 7 trillion won after the transaction.
The publication reported that SK intends to apply the proceeds to construction and expansion of the Ulsan facility. Retaining 51% would leave SK Telecom with majority ownership after the proposed equity sale.
Earlier reporting by ChosunBiz described negotiations over a sale of up to 49% as being in their final stage in June. Its reporting also identified the same proposed allocation, 29% for KKR and the balance for IMM Investment and Stonebridge Capital. In March, Maeil Business Newspaper reported that SK Group was reviewing multiple investment-attraction options and quoted the group as saying that nothing had been confirmed at that point.
Data center capacity context
MLQ, citing Korean media reporting, described the Ulsan site as an AI-focused facility being developed with Amazon Web Services under a 15-year partnership. It reported a first-phase target of 41 MW by November 2027, expansion to 103 MW by February 2029, and a longer-term 1 GW roadmap. Those capacity milestones were reported before the August 27 transaction update and remain forward-looking project targets.
For ML engineers and infrastructure teams, the reported deal is primarily a financing and capacity-development story rather than a new compute product announcement. AI data centers require substantial upfront spending on power delivery, cooling, networking, accelerators, and construction. Comparable projects frequently use outside capital and separate operating entities to spread that exposure while a strategic operator retains control.
The proposed Ulsan structure would add another large, externally financed AI infrastructure project in South Korea. The Korea Economic Daily reported that the transaction could also enable further partnerships with the financial investors as SK develops additional AI data centers, although the source did not provide specific future projects, capacity commitments, or customer deployment details.
Key Points
- 1SK Group's proposed 49% sale values the Ulsan AI data center at about 3 trillion won while preserving SK Telecom's majority control.
- 2The reported structure combines secondary shares and 1.2 trillion won of new equity, directing outside capital toward facility construction and expansion.
- 3Comparable AI infrastructure projects often separate asset ownership from operating control because power, cooling, and accelerator capacity require substantial upfront financing.
Scoring Rationale
The proposed $2.2 billion transaction is a notable financing event for AI compute infrastructure and could support a large planned data center in South Korea. Its practitioner impact is indirect because the transaction remains reported as planned and does not announce new cloud capacity or developer services.
Sources
Public references used for this report.
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