[Run Again 'Construction Korea'] SK Construction Acquires Korea's Largest Environmental Platform Company... Seeking New Growth Engine in Eco-Friendly Market

EMC Holdings Sale Price '1 Trillion Won' Big Deal

Comprehensive Organizational Restructuring Including Establishment of Eco-Friendly Solutions Division
Introducing Innovation Through Various Organizational Reforms

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] SK Engineering & Construction's efforts to secure new growth engines are not limited to new energy. SK Engineering & Construction's acquisition of EMC Holdings from Apalma Capital last September reveals its new growth strategy.

EMC Holdings is the largest comprehensive environmental platform company in Korea, covering the entire environmental industry from wastewater treatment to waste incineration and landfill. Industry experts evaluate that SK Engineering & Construction has embarked on a 'big deal' worth more than 1 trillion KRW in sales proceeds to find new sources of revenue.

EMC Holdings operates 970 water treatment facilities nationwide, 4 waste incineration plants, and 1 landfill site. In particular, it is the number one market share holder in the domestic water treatment sector and is showing high growth in waste incineration and landfill sectors as well.

SK Engineering & Construction plans to grow into a technology-driven eco-friendly company by actively developing and introducing technologies such as Reuse and Recycling based on EMC Holdings' business. New businesses integrated with existing plant and infrastructure sites will also be promoted, including the creation of smart green industrial complexes as digital-based eco-friendly manufacturing spaces, new energy generation using waste heat and spent catalysts, and the development of new-concept complex environmental treatment facilities combined with tunnel and underground space technologies.

SK Engineering & Construction expects to create opportunities to explore new global business prospects and anticipates significant synergy effects with group affiliates such as SK Innovation, which have high demand for waste treatment. Additionally, since EMC Holdings' business sites are distributed nationwide, the company plans to promote mutual growth with local small and medium-sized business partners (collaborators) and maximize social value through financial, technical, and educational support.

Ahn Jae-hyun, President of SK Construction

SK Engineering & Construction is showing strong commitment by undertaking a comprehensive organizational overhaul to diversify its business into new growth energy and eco-friendly sectors. In July, it established the Eco-friendly Solutions Division through a major organizational restructuring and reorganized the Energy Technology Division into the New Energy Solutions Division.

In particular, the Eco-friendly Solutions Division, organized into the Smart Green Industrial Complex Business Group and Recycling Business Group, is led directly by SK Engineering & Construction President Jaehyun Ahn. In the recycling business, leveraging the acquisition of EMC Holdings, the company plans to promote a business that converts waste discarded from daily life to industrial sites into eco-friendly high value-added products from a circular economy perspective.

The New Energy Solutions Division will expand its business to include the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) business, a stable eco-friendly distributed power supply source, as well as renewable energy businesses such as solar and wind power, liquefied natural gas (LNG) power generation, and performance improvement and eco-friendliness of aging refining and power generation facilities.

The company is also attempting various innovations in organizational culture. Notably, it has introduced Agile methods and Squad organizations in its organizational structure. Agile organizations, which mean flexible and rapid responses to change, enable faster decision-making. Squad organizations are self-contained teams operating under Agile methods that define their own tasks and make business decisions independently.