South Korean conglomerate, SK Group, divests its entire stake in Vingroup, netting a hefty 1 trillion won.
South Korea's SK Group Sells Vingroup Stake for $710 Million, Shifts Focus to AI, Semiconductors, and EV Batteries
South Korea's conglomerate, SK Group, has announced the sale of its entire 6.05% stake in Vietnam's Vingroup, netting approximately 1 trillion won ($710 million). The sale, executed through a series of block trades from January to early August, marks a significant step in SK Group's strategic financial rebalancing.
Initially investing $1 billion in Vingroup in 2019, making it the fourth-largest shareholder, SK Group has now divested its stake to institutional investors. The remaining 78% of the stake was sold at a significantly higher valuation, as Vingroup's stock price surged 2.6 times from January to early August.
The strategy aims to strengthen financial stability and reallocate capital toward future growth areas, particularly in semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), and electric vehicle (EV) batteries. This shift reflects the group’s intent to prioritize industries that require large-scale capital expenditures, especially in the current global trade environment centered around the U.S. and domestic markets.
SK Group has engaged in various forms of collaboration with Vingroup, the largest conglomerate in Vietnam, across diverse sectors including real estate development, retail, smartphones, and automobiles. However, an SK official stated that the group will maintain a strategic partnership with Vinn Group in the future growth sector.
In addition to the Vingroup stake sale, SK Group also sold a 5.05% stake in Masan Group for another $200 million in November of the same year. The exact terms of the deals with WinCommerce and Masan Group, and the identity of the buyers, were not disclosed.
The stock price of Vingroup was trading at around 39,000 Vietnamese dong in January and 104,000 dong by early August. SK is believed to have benefited from favorable currency exchange movements, as the Korean won depreciated more than the Vietnamese dong against the US dollar since the initial investment.
The divestment aligns with SK Group’s broader plan to free up approximately $58 billion by 2026 to fuel investments specifically in AI and semiconductor technologies, marking a hard pivot from previous holdings in Vietnamese conglomerates to high-tech and future-oriented sectors.
In summary, SK Group’s reason for selling its Vingroup stake is to reallocate capital toward growth areas with significant technological advancement and capital demand, particularly AI, semiconductors, and EV batteries, which are expected to be critical in the coming years. The conglomerate is expected to ramp up investment in these areas, with a strong focus on artificial intelligence and semiconductors.
[1] SK Group announces sale of Vingroup stake for $710 million, aims to invest in AI and semiconductors (2025, August 5). Retrieved from https://www.sk.com/news/articleView.sknews?idxno=21097 [3] SK Group plans to invest $58 billion in AI and semiconductors by 2026 (2024, December 15). Retrieved from https://www.sk.com/news/articleView.sknews?idxno=20958
SK Group has decided to redirect funds from business ventures like the sale of its Vingroup stake for $710 million towards investment in advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors, as outlined in their strategic financial rebalancing.
The conglomerate intends to invest a substantial amount of around $58 billion in AI and semiconductors by 2026, as announced in the article titled "SK Group plans to invest $58 billion in AI and semiconductors by 2026" (2024, December 15).
