Michael Dell's family office buys $380M SK stake as Chey funds divorce split
What's the deal? SK GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → chairman Chey Tae-won is selling a 1.34% stake in holding company SK Co.Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to DFO Public Investments, a fund run by Michael Dell's family office, DFO ManagementDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The transfer of 972,493 shares will net Chey US$456.1M through an after-hours block trade settling November 2.
The terms: The price was set at US$469 per share, 11.6% above SK's closing price of US$420 on October 13. It marks the first time capital has entered the Korean market under the DFO Management name.
Why now? Chey needs funds for an asset division tied to his divorce. Alongside the Dell deal, he will raise a further US$335.4M via a price return swap with Korea Investment & SecuritiesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, transferring a 0.94% stake and settling in three years.
What's the endgame? Observers expect the sale to deepen an AI infrastructure alliance between the two camps. The chain runs SK hynixDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → → Nvidia → Dell Technologies: SK hynix supplies high bandwidth memory to Nvidia, which makes the GPUs that Dell builds into finished AI servers for big tech buyers.
Chey and Dell are regular attendees at the World Economic Forum in Davos. In August, SK hynix joined as a key partner at the Dell Technologies Forum in Seoul.
Who is the buyer? DFO Management favours long-term investing with permanent capital. It acquired North American plastic container maker Ring Container TechnologiesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → in 2017 and still operates it, and has held PVHDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Dine Brands GlobalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → for more than 15 years each.
The firm's predecessor, MSD CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, helped fund Dell's 2013 take-private. Michael Dell and DFO Management now hold 40% of Dell Technologies, which relisted in 2018 after its $67 billion EMC acquisition strained its finances.
The signal: A founder-led US family office taking a strategic position in a Korean conglomerate underlines how tightly the AI supply chain now binds memory makers, chip designers, and server builders. For Chey, a personal liquidity need doubles as a way to lock in a powerful partner.
Read more: biz.chosun.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
