South Korean mobile operator SK Telecom, in a joint investment with Australia’s Macquarie Group, has acquired a stake in security service provider ADT Caps. The acquisition price reached KRW 1.27 trillion (about USD 1.17 billion). Following completion, SK Telecom will hold a 55 percent stake in ADT Caps, with Macquarie will own the remaining 45 percent. The two companies are purchasing the shares from Siren Holdings Korea, which currently owns ADT Caps. The investment made by SK Telecom is estimated at KRW 702 billion.
ADT Caps has debts worth KRW 1.7 trillion, which brings the overall size of the purchase to KRW 2.9 trillion. SK Telecom said it will leverage the ADT Caps stake acquisition to boost its security business. According to SK Telecom, the KRW 2.9 trillion price is around 11 times the size of ADT Cap’s EBITDA.
South Korean security services provider ADT Caps reports it currently has 570,000 customers, and is focused on maintaining and protecting various facilities, businesses and homes. SK Telecom claims ADT Caps’ market share reaches 30 percent. ADT Caps posted an operating profit of KRW 143.5 billion, and sales of KRW 721.8 billion in 2017.
SK Telecom believes that its experience in artificial intelligence, IoT and big data services will help ADT Caps offer more reliable services and become a next-generation security service provider. Potential services to be provided by ADT Caps in the future include a surveillance system that can automatically deal with emergency situations, including fires, without having to only rely on people at the site.
