Hana Financial and SK shore up partnership

Finance

Published: 24 Jul. 2022, 13:15

Hana Financial and SK shore up partnership

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo, left, and SK Telecom CEO Ryu Young-sang poses with agreements on swapping shares at SK Telecom’s headquarters in Euljiro, Seoul, on Friday. [HANA FINANCIAL GROUP, SK TELECOM]

Hana Financial Group and SK Telecom are swapping shares worth 400 billion won ($305 million).

The country’s leading financial company and telecommunication companies said Sunday they hope to cooperate more in the convergence of the finance and ICT industries.

Under the agreement, SK Telecom will sell 39.9 million shares it owns in Hana Card, a 2.86 percent stake, to Hana Financial Group. When the sale is complete, Hana Financial Group will own 100 percent of Hana Card.

At the same time, SK Telecom will buy 9.13 million shares in Hana Financial Group, a 3.1 percent stake, for 330 billion won.

Hana Card, will buy roughly 1.32 million shares in SK Telecom, a 0.6 percent stake, for 68.4 billion won. It will also buy around 700,000 shares in SK Square, SK Telecom’s investment company specializing in ICT, a 0.5 percent stake, for 31.6 billon won.

These are the first strategic transactions between the two companies since SK Telecom sold all of its shares in Hana Financial Group in 2019.

The companies plan to expand partnerships in areas including artificial intelligence-based financial services and the cloud business.

The companies are also planning to develop a financial service in the so-called metaverse.

One prospect, according to SK Telecom, is setting up a virtual Hana Financial Group branch in SK Telecom’s metaverse, where customers could do their banking.

“This business partnership between the leading ICT and financial companies will be an important starting point in pursuing customer value innovation,” said Ryu Young-sang, SK Telecom CEO.

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo said his group will continue to pursue the integration of finance and ICT.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]