Macquarie PE Plans to Sell SK Shieldus Stake to EQT

EQT Reviews Acquisition of Existing and New Shares Held by Macquarie

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] Macquarie Infrastructure Asset Management (PE) is pursuing a plan to sell its stake as the second-largest shareholder of SK Shieldus (formerly ADT Caps) to EQT Partners. EQT Partners is a Swedish Wallenberg-affiliated private equity fund (PEF) management firm. Attention is focused on future developments.

According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 5th, the Macquarie PE consortium is negotiating to sell a 36.87% stake in SK Shieldus to EQT Partners. EQT Partners is also reportedly in discussions with the largest shareholder SK Square about the possibility of subscribing to new shares of SK Shieldus.

In this regard, SK Square stated through a disclosure, "We are carefully reviewing plans for new investment attraction and share sales for future growth, but nothing has been finalized yet."

Previously, in 2018, SK Telecom (before the split into SK Square) acquired ADT Caps (now SK Shieldus) for about 3 trillion won together with the Macquarie PE consortium. Based on equity investment, SK Telecom raised 702 billion won, and the Macquarie PE consortium raised 574 billion won.

It is reported that this deal is being pursued as SK Shieldus faced difficulties in attracting pre-IPO investment last year and the IPO was canceled. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won’s meeting with EQT Partners Chairman Conni Jonsson last year also overlaps with this transaction.

Previously, SK Shieldus merged SK Group’s physical security affiliate NSOK and information security affiliate SK Infosec.

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