SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM) announced today that it sold its entire stake in Skytel, Mongolia’s second largest mobile carrier, to existing Mongolian shareholders, including Sun Clay Group and Global Com LLC, for KRW 25.8 billion.

In 1999, SK Telecom acquired a 20% stake in Skytel through an in-kind contribution by providing Skytel with its analog telecommunication equipment that had been decomissioned in Korea since the company began deploying CDMA networks for the first time in the world. SK Telecom was then well recognized for its timely export of out-of-use analog telecommunication equipment. In 2002, SK Telecom increased its stake in Skytel to 29.3% by investing KRW 600 million in cash.

Following the sale of Skytel stakes, SK Telecom earned a total of KRW 28.3 billion, including KRW 25.8 billion from equity sales and KRW 2.5 billion of accumulated dividend income, which is 46 times higher than its original investment of KRW 600 million.

Skytel is Mongolia’s second largest mobile telecommunications provider, established 1999 through a joint venture between SK Telecom and Taihan Electric Wire Co., Ltd.