SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who also heads the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, speaks at the Korea-Mexico Business Forum at the World Trade Center in Mexico City on Sept. 25. Chey plans to sell 944 billion won worth of SK Inc. shares to pay his divorce settlement.NEWS1
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won will sell 944 billion won ($692.8 million) worth of SK Inc. shares to meet personal funding needs related to his divorce settlement, the company said in a regulatory filing Friday.
Chey, the largest shareholder of SK Inc., the group's holding company, plans to sell 1,653,924 shares, or 2.3 percent of the company. The sale amount matches the sum the Seoul High Court ordered him to pay his ex-wife in July.
Roh Soh-yeong, the director of Art Center Nabi, won that property division ruling after the Supreme Court sent the case back for review last October. Roh is the daughter of former President Roh Tae-woo.
Chey appealed again in August but later narrowed the appeal to 244 billion won of the award and said he would not contest the remaining 700 billion won.
"The change in shareholding is to meet personal funding needs related to the property division lawsuit," SK Inc. said.
Rather than unload the shares on the regular market all at once, Chey will sell them in blocks to a strategic investor and a securities firm. SK Inc. said the structure is meant to minimize the impact on the market and shareholders. The sale begins Nov. 2, a month after the filing.
Of the total, 544 billion won worth will go to the strategic investor in an after-hours block trade. SK Inc. said the buyer agreed to take part of Chey's stake after weighing the company's business competitiveness and medium- to long-term growth prospects.
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who also heads the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, gives the opening speech at the chamber's third Korea Social Value Festa at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Sept. 21.NEWS1
The remaining 400 billion won worth will be traded with a securities firm under a three-year price return swap (PRS). A PRS is a derivative in which the two parties settle gains and losses according to future movements in the stock price. Chey will profit if SK Inc. shares rise over the contract period and bear the loss if they fall, so he keeps a portion of any gains in the company's value after the sale.
The sale is not expected to have much effect on Chey's control of SK Inc. His stake will fall to 15.5 percent from 17.8 percent, but he will remain the largest shareholder. Including related parties, his side will hold 22.9 percent.
Excluding treasury shares and other stock without voting rights, that figure rises to 30.5 percent. Chey's side will still hold more than 30 percent of the voting rights after the sale.
"Chairman Chey will remain focused on responsible management and raising corporate value after the sale," an SK Inc. representative said. "The company will also carry on with its existing growth strategy, investment plans and policies to boost shareholder value without disruption."
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
