SK Telecom Agrees to Acquire Shopkick (Wall Street Journal)

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SK Telecom Agrees to Acquire Shopkick (Wall Street Journal)

Updated Sept. 26, 2014 10:00 p.m. ET

South Korean wireless firm



















SK Telecom Co.



017670.SE -0.68%



SK Telecom Co. Ltd.


S. Korea: KRX


KRW290,500


-2,000
-0.68%



Sept. 26, 2014 3:00 pm


Volume (Delayed 20m)
:
200,363





P/E Ratio
13.04


Market Cap
KRW23,618.12 Billion




Dividend Yield
0.69%


Rev. per Employee
KRW4,157,880,000










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has agreed to acquire shopping-loyalty app Shopkick Inc., according to two people familiar with the deal.

The acquisition would give SK Telecom, which operates primarily out of its home country, a new foray into the U.S. and provide it with new data tied to mobile phones. Terms of the deal couldn't be learned.

SK Telecom told The Wall Street Journal last year that it would spend between $500 million and $1 billion through its SK Planet Internet services arm to buy, invest in and build U.S. companies over three to five years.

The fund invested $6 million into Frankly, a mobile messaging app that launched last year allowing for text and photo messages to be sent anonymously, before self-destructing.

Shopkick gives users points, or kicks, for entering a store while using the app. Users can also get points by scanning certain barcodes. The kicks can be redeemed for gift cards at retailers such as Macy's, Old Navy and Crate & Barrel.

The app has more than eight million users.

The Redwood City, Calif., company garnered some attention last year when it started testing its app in two Macy's stores using beacons, devices that can detect a smartphone inside a store using Bluetooth technology. It is expanding that program nationally.

Shopkick's beacons were designed to send users information about a particular section of the store and could deliver coupons or other information.

Shopkick has raised at least $20 million from investors including Greylock Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers and SV Angel. It last raised $15 million in 2010. Forbes reported in July that the company had revenue of $26.3 million in 2013.

Cyriac Roeding, the chief exectutive of Shopkick, didn't return a phone call seeking comment. A request for comment sent to SK Telecom representatives in South Korea wasn't immediately returned.

Write to Greg Bensinger at greg.bensinger@wsj.com and Douglas MacMillan at douglas.macmillan@wsj.com

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