SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM, hereinafter referred to as “SKT”) today announced that KT and LG Uplus invested a total of KRW 26 billion in SKT’s subsidiary One Store to acquire 3.8% stake in the company.

KT and LG Uplus invested KRW 21 billion (3.1% stake/ownership) and 5 billion (0.7% stake/ownership), respectively, in One Store. With the investment, the three Korean mobile operators hold a 53.9% stake in One Store, followed by Naver (27.4%) and financial investors (19.4%).

▲ Ownership structure of One Store

Such a decision came as a result of their commitment to build a stronger ICT ecosystem in Korea by strengthening the competitiveness of Korean app stores. The investment is expected to serve as a momentum for the three Korean mobile operators to deepen their collaborative relationship and establish a responsible management system together. They will also make joint efforts to further increase their presence in the market by securing more diverse contents and expanding the user base.

One Store was established in 2016 by integrating mobile app markets of SKT, KT and LG Uplus and Naver. Under partnership, the three mobile operators are offering a 10 percent membership discount for their subscribers.

Last year, One Store reported net income surplus for the first time since its launch, and sustained gross merchandise value (GMV) growth for 10 consecutive quarters. According to IGAWorks’ mobile index, One Store’s GMV growth rate was 34.4%, about two times higher than that of other global app markets.

In addition, One Store took up 18.3% of the market share in Korea, the highest in its record, in August 2020. Google Play and Apple App Store accounted for 71.2% and 10.7% of the Korean app store market, respectively.

One Store is proactively implementing policies to promote mutual growth with content providers. It reduced its standard commission rate from 30% to 20% in 2018 and further reduced the rate to 10% for 16,000 developers with monthly transactions of KRW 5 million or under in 2020.

Meanwhile, SKT said that it will promote the IPO of One Store within this year. Last year, the company selected KB Securities and NH Investment and Securities as lead underwriters, and SK Securities as co-manager for the IPO.

“As KT and LG Uplus become One Store’s shareholders, we are confident that we will be able to shape One Store into a more competitive app market that offers greater benefits to users and promotes win-win growth with content providers,” said Lee Jae-hwan, CEO of One Store.