Even SkyTV? ... Skylife Boiling with a Sense of Crisis

KT Reviews Merger of SkyTV and Media Genie
SkyLife TV Union and Employee Stock Ownership Association
"Will Not Overlook Property Rights Infringement"

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] KT is reportedly considering merging its affiliate Media Genie with Skylife TV (Sky TV) instead of newly listing (IPO) Skylife TV. The plan is to create synergy through the merger as the two companies operate similar business models.

KT Accelerates ‘Media Business Integration’

According to industry sources on the 21st, KT is currently exploring various options to integrate Skylife TV, a multiple channel programming provider (MPP), with Media Genie.

The key issue is which company will absorb the other between Media Genie under KT Studio Genie and Skylife TV, a subsidiary of KT Skylife. Both scenarios?Media Genie acquiring Skylife TV or vice versa?would significantly impact the stock price of KT Skylife, a listed company. Thanks to the drama syndrome of ‘Extraordinary Attorney Woo,’ KT Skylife’s stock price surged recently but plunged more than 6% in a single day on the 18th, when merger rumors surfaced. This is because a merger could dilute the value of the subsidiary and likely reduce KT Skylife’s shareholding ratio. Securities analysts predict that if Skylife TV and Media Genie merge at a 3-to-1 ratio, Skylife’s stake in Skylife TV would drop from 73% to 59%.

Merger rumors between the two companies have been continuously raised due to the similarity of Skylife TV’s and Media Genie’s business models. CEO Yoon Yong-pil leads both Skylife TV and Media Genie, and both companies are located around Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul. Some speculate that Media Genie’s move from Seocho-gu to near Sangam-dong earlier this year was a preliminary step for management control adjustments.

KT Skylife Faces Growing Sense of Crisis

Internally at KT Skylife, there is an increasing sense of crisis that Skylife TV might be taken away following Media Genie. Last September, KT Skylife planned to acquire Media Genie (formerly Hyundai Media) together with HCN, but the acquisition entity changed to KT Studio Genie. The Skylife labor union and employee stock ownership association oppose handing over the valuable subsidiary Skylife TV to KT Studio Genie. The employee stock ownership association stated, "We will not tolerate shareholder value erosion and infringement of property rights," urging management to "defend the subsidiary’s management rights."

Jung Tae-cheon, head of the Skylife branch of the National Union of Mediaworkers, said, "Company members do not feel any justification for the merger of Media Genie and Skylife TV," adding, "Regardless of the merger direction, the logic behind why the merger is necessary in the first place needs to be restructured."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.