SK Telecoms debunks Rumours It Is Selling Its Stake In e-Commerce To Amazon

South Korean wireless telecommunications operator SK Telecom Co. has, on Monday, come out to formally debunk a news report that it is selling a stake in e-commerce unit 11Street to e-commerce giant Amazon. According to the rumors, the telecom giant was selling its e-commerce to support its online retail business.

According to the information released by local media, Amazon planned on exercising its right to acquire a 30 percent stake in 11Street. These reports also stated that Amazon could acquire as much as a 50 percent stake in the company’s e-commerce wing. The news was believed to be true because the two companies, last year, formed an e-commerce-based partnership and ended up at an agreement where Amazon was given the right to acquire a stake in SK Telecom’s e-commerce wing.

Explaining what the partnership was all about, SK Telecoms has come out to say that “We are collaborating to launch a service so that Amazon products can be directly purchased within 11Street”. SK Telecom currently owns about 80 percent stake in 11Street and has revealed that it is planning an initial public offering (IPO) for the retail business and that the IPO should take place by next year or by 2023 at most.

“There is no ongoing matter regarding a stake Transfer”, SK Telecom revealed debunking the report and rumors that a stake transfer to US e-commerce giant; Amazon was on its way. There is therefore no stake transfer between the two companies. All there is just a partnership to boost each other’s businesses.

SK Telecoms is a part of SK Group and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. The company is the biggest wireless carrier in the country and has a little over 50 percent of the local market shares (as of 2008).