KKR and a consortium of South Korean firms will invest $2.2 billion in an AI data-center company being created by telecommunications firm SK Telecom through a spinoff. SK Telecom plans to carve data-center and submarine-cable businesses out of subsidiary SK Broadband and form a new company called SK Horizon. The Korean telco said Thursday that it secured commitments for a combined equity investment of 3.08 trillion won, equivalent to $2.2 billion, from funds managed by KKR and a consortium comprising South Korean investment firms IMM Investment and Stonebridge Capital. KKR and IMM will hold 29% and 20% stakes in SK Horizon, respectively, while SK Telecom will remain the largest shareholder with 51%.

The new company will focus on operating and expanding SK Telecom’s existing data-center and submarine-cable businesses. The move completes SK Telecom’s plan to establish an AI data-center infrastructure business. In July, it announced a new subsidiary, SK Hyper, with a planned investment of 750 billion won through 2030. SK Hyper will develop new AI data-center projects, while SK Horizon will handle operations and expansion. The push comes as South Korea doubles down on building a complete AI ecosystem on home soil, seeking to scale up data-center capacity and secure AI sovereignty. Chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, along with affiliate companies and the government, plan to spend about $2 trillion creating new semiconductor and AI industry hubs in the years to come.