SK Telecom spins out AI data center unit SK Horizon with $2.26B from KKR, IMM
What's the deal? SK TelecomDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → is spinning off the data center and submarine cable businesses of subsidiary SK BroadbandDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → into a new company, SK HorizonDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, backed by a combined US$2.58B (roughly $2.26 billion) equity investment from KKR and the IMM InvestmentDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →-StonebridgeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → consortium. The deal was announced in October 2026 and structured as a corporate spinout.
What's the endgame? SK Horizon will expand Korea's AI data center (AIDC) infrastructure to 318MW across eight operating facilities, with new sites under construction in Ulsan and Guro. It will also grow submarine cable infrastructure, which SKT calls essential for global AI businesses.
Who gets what? Once all investment phases close, KKR will hold 29% and the IMM consortium 20%, while SKT keeps management control as the largest shareholder at 51%. Kim Seong-soo, chief executive officer of SK Broadband, is expected to concurrently lead SK Horizon.
Why now? SKT said a streamlined decision-making structure should help SK Horizon secure funding for key business areas more effectively, including through outside investment. The surviving SK Broadband will focus on its fixed-line, media, and enterprise businesses.
The signal: The round reflects how global infrastructure investors are chasing AI data center capacity. KKR, which manages over $100 billion in infrastructure assets and has deployed more than $70 billion across digital and power assets, is making the investment primarily from its Asia Pacific infrastructure strategy — a sign that AIDC buildout is now a cross-border capital race.
Read more: netmanias.com
Image credit: North Charleston
