An Investment Proposal from Air Asia
SK Group is considering investing about 100 billion won in Air Asia, Asia's largest low-cost carrier (LCC).
The group said on June 4 that SK Southeast Asia Investment Corp. has received a proposal from Malaysian-flagged LCC Air Asia to invest in it for a 10 percent stake. SK Southeast Asia Investment Corp. is SK Group’s investment platform for Southeast Asia.
It takes 330.42 million ringgit (about 95.2 billion won) to acquire a 10 percent stake in Air Asia as its share price is 1 ringgit per share.
Air Asia is reportedly working to attract investment from local banks and institutional investors in addition to SK Group in order to overcome financial difficulties caused by the new coronavirus infection. SK Group said it has received an investment proposal and is considering it, but nothing has been decided.
SK Southeast Asia Investment Corp. was established by major affiliates of SK Group such as SK Corp., SK Innovation, SK Telecom, SK E&S, and SK Hynix. In 2018, the company purchased a 9.5 percent stake in Masan Group, Vietnam's second-largest private business group, for about US$470 million, and a 6.1 percent stake in the holding company of Binh Group, Vietnam's No. 1 private business group, for US$1 billion.
If SK Southeast Asia Investment Corp. decides to invest in Air Asia, it will expand its investment scope from Vietnam to Malaysia. Some observers say that SK Group is considering investing in the airline industry as its investment could accelerate the growth of its digital business. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won called for the discovery of new business models for survival in a CEO seminar, saying, "As all tasks of 'deep change' such as evolving business models are challenging, we should think out of the box.”