SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM, hereinafter referred to as “SKT”) today held a Board of Directors’ meeting and decided to cancel its treasury shares to boost shareholder value.

It will cancel 8,685,568 shares (worth KRW 2.6 trillion based on the closing price of its stock on May 3, 2021) which is equivalent to around 10.8% of the total number of issued shares. The scheduled date for the treasury stock cancellation is May 6, 2021.

After the cancellation, the total number of issued shares will decrease from 80,745,711 to 72,060,143, and the company will be left with only 900,000 treasury shares.

The treasury stock cancellation generally pushes up the value of stocks by reducing the number of outstanding stocks.

With today’s decision, SKT reaffirms its commitment to enhance corporate and shareholder value. It also shows that the company is actively pursuing a shareholder-friendly policy in line with the SK Group’s environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG)-centered management.

SKT will use its remaining treasury shares for diverse employee compensation programs including stock options to increase corporate value by inviting employees to become its shareholders.