SK telecom Co. will sell its entire stake in Kakao Corp. through an after-hours block deal, the company announced in a regulatory filing on Friday.

SK telecom will sell 10,818,510 shares, valued at 413.3 billion won ($288.43 million).

SK telecom said the decision was made to secure funds for acquiring additional shares in SK broadband Co. to make it a wholly owned subsidiary.

It is also aimed at investing in future growth areas such as artificial intelligence (AI).

In November last year, SK telecom signed a stock purchase agreement to acquire a 24.8 percent stake in SK broadband from Taekwang Group and Mirae Asset Group.

Taekwang at the time owned 16.75 percent stake in SK broadband while Mirae Asset Group held 8.01 percent.

The acquisition, set to be completed by May at 11,511 won per share, is valued at 1.15 trillion won.

Upon completion, SK broadband will effectively become a wholly owned subsidiary of SK telecom.

Despite the divestment, SK telecom said it will maintain its partnership with Kakao. The two companies formed a strategic alliance in October 2019 and exchanged shares worth 300 billion won.

“We will continue to promote close cooperation with Kakao, including collaboration in cloud services and joint fund management,” said an SK Telecom official.

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