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The headquarters of SK Square Co., Ltd. in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo courtesy of Yonhap News) |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] SEOUL, October 29, 2025 — SK Square Co., Ltd. announced that it will sell its entire stake in the e-commerce platform 11st (11번가) to its subsidiary SK Planet, enabling full repayment to financial investors such as the National Pension Service (NPS). Once the deal is completed, 11st will become a wholly owned subsidiary of SK Planet, restructuring under the hierarchy SK Square → SK Planet → 11st.
According to the industry on Tuesday, SK Square’s board of directors approved the sale of its entire 11st stake to SK Planet for KRW 467.3 billion (book value: KRW 660.7 billion). Currently, 11st is owned by SK Square (80.3%), a consortium of Nile Holdings (18.2%), and treasury shares (1.5%).
Nile Holdings was established in 2018 when H&Q Korea, the National Pension Service, and the National Credit Union Federation of Korea (Saemaul Geumgo) jointly invested KRW 500 billion in 11st. Of this, NPS invested approximately KRW 350 billion. Following the transaction, all financial investors — NPS, H&Q Korea, and Saemaul Geumgo — will receive full repayment totaling KRW 467.3 billion, effectively recovering more than their original investment when combined with previous dividend payments.
The transaction also reorganizes the group’s e-commerce governance structure. With 11st under SK Planet’s full ownership, the subsidiary aims to integrate its e-commerce platform with SK Planet’s loyalty program “OK Cashback,” creating synergies in the combined mileage–commerce business model.
In addition to the 11st deal, SK Planet will acquire SK Square’s stakes in other portfolio companies, including SparkPlus (co-working spaces), Haegin (mobile gaming), and Korbit (cryptocurrency exchange) for KRW 29.8 billion. These businesses will be integrated with SK Planet’s digital ecosystem to further strengthen the OK Cashback and digital commerce operations.
To finance the acquisitions, SK Planet plans to use a capital increase from SK Square along with its own cash reserves. The company also announced plans to sell 40.2% of its Pangyo office building and land holdings to SK REITs for KRW 145 billion to secure additional liquidity.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
