Daily Brief South Korea: SK Square, Riiid, Kakao Brain Corp and more

In today’s briefing:

Sweden’s EQT to Acquire a 68% Stake in SK Shieldus – Positive Impact on SK Square
RiiiD: AI Machine Learning Technology to Improve Students Education and Test Scores
Kakao Brain: Leading Provider of AI Based Text-To-Image Service & Launch of KoGPT in 2H 2023

Sweden’s EQT to Acquire a 68% Stake in SK Shieldus – Positive Impact on SK Square

On 1 March, it was announced that Sweden’s EQT will be acquiring a 68% controlling stake in SK Shieldus (393820 KS).
EQT Partners is controlled by Sweden’s powerful Wallenberg family. EQT will invest a total amount of 2 trillion won (US$1.5 billion) in SK Shieldus.
Our NAV analysis of SK Square suggests NAV of 7.9 trillion won or NAV per share of 55,507, representing a 45% upside from current levels.

Riiid uses AI machine learning technology including “reinforcement learning algorithm” to improve student education.
Riiid has a strong presence in the TOEIC test prep services in Asia. Now, it is expanding its business in the SAT and ACT prep markets in the United States.
Since the company’s inception, the company has received about $250 million in funding including from Softbank Vision Fund.

One of the most promising projects that Kakao Brain is currently developing includes an AI Korean language model called KoGPT, which would be similar to ChatGPT service.
In February 2023, Kakao Brain created a major magazine cover which was the first time in South Korea that an AI-based artwork has been published on a major magazine cover.
There are five major companies including Kakao Brain, Naver Corp, SK Telecom, KT Corp, and LG AI Research that are actively developing Korean language versions of Chat GPT.

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