SK Hyper CEO Targets First External Funding Round by Year-End

What happened

SK Hyper, SK Telecom's AI data center subsidiary, has begun efforts to attract large-scale external investment, targeting completion of its first funding round by the end of 2026 or early 2027. According to a Bloomberg interview with CEO Jung Suk-geun on Oct. 23, the company is discussing financing options for AI data center development in South Korea with global technology companies and financial investors. SK Hyper plans to secure 15 gigawatts (GW) of data center capacity in South Korea by 2035 and aims to begin operating an initial 5GW in phases starting in 2029, with further expansion depending on market demand; Jung estimated the cost of developing the initial 5GW at approximately 462 trillion won ($350 billion). The specific investment structure and cost-sharing arrangements remain under discussion, and the company plans additional financing over the subsequent three to four years after the first round, with actual investment amounts and the pace of spending to be adjusted according to demand. Jung also raised the possibility of generating revenue from 2027, two years before the targeted start of operations at the first-phase data centers in 2029, though the company has not disclosed specific revenue-generating businesses or projected revenue figures. SK Hyper is an AI data center business development company established by SK Telecom in July, responsible for securing sites, building substations, attracting customers and commercializing projects; SK Telecom owns 100% of SK Hyper and has committed to investing 750 billion won in the subsidiary by 2030. SK Telecom CFO Park Jong-seok said during the company's second-quarter earnings announcement in August that SK Telecom intended to minimize its direct investment burden while retaining control over large-scale data center projects, using investments from strategic partners and project financing. The source notes the 15GW development plan remains a long-term business proposal; the company has not disclosed binding investment commitments from external investors or specific financing structures for individual data centers, and the pace of future expansion is expected to depend on securing power supplies, development sites and corporate customers, as well as the prospects for recovering investment costs.

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Source: The Elec · 10/25/2026 · View original source