Align Partners reveals 1.5% stake in SK Inc., sees 75% valuation discount

Align Partners disclosed that it holds a 1.5 percent stake in SK Inc. through its fund, arguing that the holding company's share price does not fully reflect the value of its key subsidiary, SK hynix. According to materials presented by Align CEO Lee Chang-hwan at the "13D Monitor Active-Passive Investor Summit" in New York on Tuesday (local time), the activist fund held 1,088,753 shares of SK Inc., representing 1.5 percent of the holding company's total outstanding shares. Lee described SK Inc. as an opportunity to gain exposure to world-class artificial intelligence assets at a discounted valuation. SK Inc. holds a 32.2 percent stake in SK Square, which in turn owns about 20 percent of SK hynix. It gives SK Inc. an effective stake of roughly 6.5 percent in the chipmaker. He explained that the value of SK Inc.'s indirect stake in SK hynix is subject to two layers of discounts due to its ownership structure. Align estimated SK Inc.'s net asset value at around 100 trillion won ($75.5 billion), implying a discount of approximately 75 percent to its net asset value, based on the holding com