South Korea’s SK Group may sell some Southeast Asia assets

SEOUL: South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate SK Group is considering selling some of its assets in Southeast Asia and reinvesting in other businesses in countries in the region, including Vietnam, a South Korean newspaper reported.

“We are considering some asset adjustments as part of regular changes to our portfolio from time to time, but nothing has been confirmed yet,” an SK official said.

“Even if some assets are adjusted, we will use it to reinvest in other growth areas in Vietnam,” the official said.

Vietnam, where Samsung Electronics makes half of its global smartphone output, and South Korea earlier this month upgraded their relations to “comprehensive strategic partnership”, which Vietnam has so far established only with China, Russia and India.

The conglomerate plans to decide which assets to potentially sell depending on buyers’ offers, and is considering reinvesting some of the proceeds from any stake sales in local firms, South Korean newspaper the Korea Economic Daily reported on Sunday citing unnamed investment banking sources.

An industry source, however, said SK Group was planning to expand its team in Vietnam despite preliminary talks with a buyer to sell some of its assets there.