Goldman Sachs eyes Tmap Mobility acquisition by year-end

Goldman Sachs is seeking to acquire a controlling stake in Tmap Mobility, operator of Korea’s leading navigation app, from SK Square by the end of this year, seeing an investment opportunity in its lower valuation and vast trove of mobility data as autonomous driving advances, industry sources said Friday. For SK Square, SK Group’s investment arm and the largest shareholder of SK hynix, the sale is part of a broader strategy to focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors. The global investment bank is looking to invest between 600 billion won ($450 million) and 800 billion won to secure a 60 to 70 percent stake in Tmap Mobility. It is in talks to buy shares from SK Square, the largest shareholder with a 63.23 percent stake, as well as other financial investors, including Affirma Capital and EastBridge Partners, which each hold 9.83 percent, and KB Kookmin Bank, which owns 6.39 percent. Tmap Mobility traces its roots to a navigation service launched by SK Telecom in 2002. The telecom operator spun off its mobility business into a separate company in December 2020, and Tm