Two grandchildren of the late SK Group founder Chey Jong-kun sold more than 10 billion won worth of shares in SK Inc. (034730.KS) on the open market in June, regulatory filings show. The sales also slightly lowered the combined stake held by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and related parties.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 14th, a grandson of the founder, surnamed Ko, sold 10,899 SK Inc. shares in three transactions on June 4, June 16 and June 25. Based on the trading prices on each of those days, the proceeds came to about 8.159 billion won. A granddaughter sold 3,000 SK Inc. shares on June 25 for about 2.488 billion won. Together, the siblings disposed of 13,899 shares over the month for proceeds of about 10.647 billion won.
June 25, the day both siblings sold shares, was when SK Inc. stock jumped more than 20% from the previous session to an intraday record high of 883,000 won. On that day alone, the two sold 8,000 shares at between 820,000 and 830,000 won apiece, netting about 6.7 billion won. The specific reasons for the sales and how the proceeds will be used could not be confirmed.
The two are grandchildren of the late SK Group founder Chey Jong-kun through his daughter, and each received 37,899 SK Inc. shares from Chairman Chey Tae-won in November 2018. Marking his 20th anniversary as group chairman at the time, Chey gifted 3.29 million SK Inc. shares worth about 920 billion won to relatives who had backed him during the management succession process, and the founder's grandchildren were among the recipients. Their holdings have since declined, leaving the grandson with 16,000 shares and the granddaughter with 14,100.
The share sales also contributed to a decline in the combined stake held by Chairman Chey and related parties. Their total holdings fell by 9,296 shares, from 18,605,896 as of May 19 to 18,596,600 as of the 13th of this month. Their combined stake slipped to 25.65% from 25.66%, a decline of 0.01 percentage point. The change reflects the siblings' sales along with share purchases and disposals by other related parties and movements tied to stock compensation.
A separate agreement Chey signed on the 2nd of this month to sell 1,653,924 SK Inc. shares was not included in the latest decline in holdings. That transaction is scheduled to settle on Nov. 2, so the shares have not yet actually changed hands.