Shinhan strengthens ties with SK

Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung, left, and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won / Courtesy of each company

By Park Jae-hyuk

Shinhan Financial Group and SK Group are enhancing their ties in various fields, after Shinhan Chairman Cho Yong-byoung and SK Chairman Chey Tae-won met each other in November 2018 and decided to raise a 20 billion won ($16 million) private equity fund to invest in social enterprises.

According to industry officials, Friday, Cho will attend the Social Value Connect (SOVAC) event that SK will host in September to discuss how businesses can create social value. At the SOVAC event, the two chairmen are expected to talk about their thoughts on corporate social responsibility online.

Chey has been recognized for his efforts to create social value. Cho has also emphasized management regarding environmental, societal and governance (ESG) factors that are mentioned in the 2019 Shinhan Financial Group Social Responsibility Report published in July.

When they met in 2018 to raise the 20 billion won, Shinhan invested 9 billion won, while SK paid 6 billion won. The remaining 5 billion won was from institutional investors. Shinhan Alternative Investment Management is in charge of the fund's management.

Last month, SK also selected six social enterprises through the “Impact Unicorn Contest” in collaboration with Shinhan. The startups will get up to a 3 billion won investment, to allow them to seek profits while making efforts to solve social problems.

In addition to their partnership for social contributions, Shinhan and SK have also joined hands for their own businesses.

On Thursday, Shinhan Card and SK Telecom signed a memorandum of understanding for their strategic alliance in big data business. They agreed to share their data to create higher value-added data in line with the government's move to boost the “data economy” which is one of the key projects of the Moon Jae-in administration's “Digital New Deal” drive.