SK Telecom buys physical security co as part of IoT business

SK Telecom and Macquarie will acquire ADT Caps, Korea’s second-largest physical security services provider with 570,000 subscribers, in a deal valued at KRW 1.276 trillion.
SK Telecom mobile tech
SK Telecom, which has 30.2 million mobile subscribers including 22.87 million LTE users, will introduce new ICT technologies such as AI, IoT and big data to the fast-growing security services industry.

SK Telecom will invest KRW 702 billion to acquire 55 percent stake and management rights in ADT Caps while Macquarie will invest KRW 574 billion to purchase 45 percent stake in the company.

The SK Telecom-Macquarie consortium has valued Siren Holdings Korea’s enterprise value at KRW 2.97 trillion when considering its debt of 1.70 trillion. This equals to 11 times the amount of ADT Caps’ EBITDA.

The SK Telecom-Macquarie consortium will sign agreement with U.S.-based private equity fund Carlyle Group to buy stake in ADT Caps and plans to complete the acquisition in Q3 2018.

ADT Caps accounts for roughly 30 percent of local physical security services market in Korea. It recorded revenue of KRW 721.7 billion and operating income of KRW 143.5 billion in 2017.