SK Planet considers spinoff of e-commerce site 11st

SK Planet, a mobile service arm of conglomerate SK Group, is considering spinning off its e-commerce platform 11st and setting up a joint venture with other retail companies. The company is attempting to turn around its operating losses.

According to analysts, Lotte and Shinsegae are two of the likely SK partners. Neither side has disclosed further details.

“SK Planet has been considering attracting strategic investment and creating a synergy effect with other retailers since last year,” an SK Planet spokesperson said Wednesday. “However, the detailed method of how the company is going to do that hasn’t been decided.”

SK Planet’s 11st is one of the leading e-commerce platforms in Korea with yearly transactions of 8 trillion won ($7 billion). SK Planet had operating losses of 365 billion won; half of it speculated to have come from 11st.

Korea’s No. 1 e-commerce operator eBay has a yearly transaction volume of 14 trillion won.

By Jin Eun-soo