Hynix restructures to align with SK’s corporate culture

Hynix Semiconductor, the second-largest chipmaker in Korea, is starting to look more like a subsidiary of SK Group after it underwent its first restructuring since being acquired by the group earlier this month.

According to the industry yesterday, Hynix underwent reorganization on Feb. 15, right after SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won was appointed chairman & CEO of the chipmaker.

SK Telecom, the group’s telecom arm, has become the new owner of Hynix as it completed a payment of 3.37 trillion won ($2.9 billion) for a total of 146.1 million shares on Feb. 14, making it the largest shareholder with a 21 percent stake.

The latest addition to the nation’s third-largest conglomerate has created two new teams, dubbed “SK Management System” (SKMS) and “Future Vision.”

The role of the former is to spread SK’s corporate culture to Hynix to bolster its solidarity with other SK subsidiaries, while the second team’s mission is to map out long-term visions for how to best manage the chip manufacturing business.

“SKMS is a team that bears the unique hallmarks of the SK Group, and such teams are established at every SK subsidiary,” said a Hynix official.

Notably, 14 SK Group officials who conducted due diligence on Hynix prior to the acquisition have been assigned to the SKMS office at Hynix’s headquarters in Icheon, Gyeonggi.

Under SK’s stewardship, Hynix has divided its integrated research & development (R&D) and manufacturing system into three parts: R&D, manufacturing and management support.

The R&D branch will focus on the development of DRAM, NAND flash and mobile chips, while the manufacturing branch will oversee all units related to the production of chips, including the M8 Line in Cheongju, North Chungcheong, and HSCL, a Hynix branch in Wuxi, China.

The management support branch will be known as the “Corporate Center.” This will oversee crucial tasks such as strategy planning, international cooperation, financial management and procurement.

Kim Joon-ho, the current head of SKT’s Corporate Center, and Park Sang-hoon, the CEO of SK Biopharmaceuticals, have been named to lead Hynix’s Corporate Center and the manufacturing branch, respectively.

By Song Su-hyun [ssh@joongang.co.kr]