[DigitalToday reporter Jin-ho Lee] SK Telecom has folded SK Broadband into a wholly owned subsidiary.

A filing on the Financial Supervisory Service's DART system on Monday showed SKT secured a 100 percent stake in SKB on May 29 through a comprehensive share swap.

SKT previously held 99.24 percent of SKB. The share swap lifted its stake to 100 percent after it acquired the remaining 3,039,090 common shares.

During the share swap, the size of share buyback rights exercised by SKB shareholders totalled 27,408 common shares, worth 411,990,000 won. The shares were fully cancelled under a board resolution on May 27.

The industry expects the shift to a wholly owned subsidiary will make cooperation between SKT and SKB more flexible. There is also an expectation that SKT's know-how in artificial intelligence (AI) and wireless communications will be applied to SKB, which focuses on IPTV and high-speed internet, creating synergy.

An SKT official said it secured additional SKB shares to maximise synergy between the two companies and build a more efficient management system. The official said the company expects the business environment to improve, including business reorganisation, as decision-making processes are simplified.