SK Group gives portfolio a shake with strategic divestments

[Courtesy of SK ecoplant Co.]

SK Group is rebalancing its portfolio, as SK ecoplant Co. moves to sell its stake in Ascend Elements, Inc. and SK specialty Co. recently divested some of its investments.

According to multiple sources familiar with the investment banking industry Wednesday, SK ecoplant is pushing to sell its 13.09 percent stake in U.S. waste battery recycling company Ascend Elements, valued at 2 trillion won ($1.45 billion), and a successful sale could bring SK Ecoplant up to 260 billion won. “We are reviewing multiple options, including the sale of Ascend Elements,” a SK ecoplant official said.

SK ecoplant‘s liabilities stood at 10.9 trillion won as of the first quarter of 2024, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 245 percent, up 8 percentage points from the end of 2023. The company has 1.67 trillion won in short-term borrowings, and 2.61 trillion won in long-term borrowings and bonds. “The scheduled maturities are spread out over a long period, so the repayment burden is not that big,” the official noted.

SK specialty recently sold part of its stake in U.S. natural gas company NET Power Inc. for about 34 billion won as of its business reengineering plan. “We sold a fraction of our stake in NET Power as part of our portfolio management, but we have no plans to sell more,” an SK specialty representative said, adding that it could continue partnering with the U.S. gas company to promote clean power plants.

SK square Co. recently kicked off a sale of e-commerce platform 11Street Co., a deal that experts say might offer limited gains to the seller as the platform’s enterprise value is currently set between 400 billion and 500 billion won, down from its initial investment value. Market analysts expect more SK affiliates or certain business units within the affiliates to be up for sale during the second half of 2024.