Amazon to Purchase 30 Pct of SK Telecom's E-Commerce Platform 11st

U.S.-based e-commerce platform operator Amazon announced that it would collaborate with SK Telecom’s 11st by acquiring 30 percent of the South Korean e-commerce platform’s shares. The mobile carrier said that the partnership aims to bring American products to South Korean customers.

The number of shares for Amazon’s equity participation would vary depending on the valuation of 11st. Amazon said it plans to take over the investment right sequentially. Furthermore, neither of the two companies disclosed any detail of the arrangement and scope of cooperation.

In a statement, SK Telecom said they hope to create synergy with Amazon in various ICT businesses, including e-commerce, and revitalize the industry as a whole. The company added that it aims to build 11st as a global retailing platform boosting overall growth.

According to 11st, the deal with Amazon is still in an early stage, saying that it would unveil additional details to new services it aims to launch as the agreement progresses.

The deal would reportedly allow Amazon to open an indirect sales channel through 11st, providing consumer products available on Amazon. The company said that 11st shares its vision of “Customer Obsession,” as it creates a new local shopping experience.

In December of last year, SK telecom collaborated with Amazon subsidiary AWS (Amazon Web Services) for a joint venture in 5G-based mobile edge computing (MEC). MEC improves data provides low-latency networks output, power efficiency, and reliability while delivering low-latency networks.

Led by Naver and Coupang, the fiercely competitive local e-commerce market has SK Telecom seek opportunities to grow 11st as a leading platform. The company has also collaborated with global companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Uber, as it aims to expand accelerate its growth globally.