The company’s shareholders and board of directors agreed to appoint Song Gu-Young, previous senior managing director at LG Uplus as CEO of the company.

CJ ENM, the biggest shareholder of CJ Hello with a 53.92 percent stake, has handed its stake of 50 percent plus one share to LG Uplus for 800 billion won ($690 million).

Backed by the recent acquisition, LG Uplus’ revenue is expected to grow. According to financial market researcher FnGuide, the mobile carrier’s operating profit could reach 801 billion won next year, up 23 percent from this year.

LG Uplus’ latest acquisition also signals the beginning of intense competition in the pay TV industry between KT, LG Uplus and SK Broadband. If SK Broadband succeeds in merging with T-broad -- the country’s No. 2 cable TV operator -- the three mobile carriers’ share in the pay TV market will reach some 80 percent.

Previously, KT was the unrivaled market leader. The company and its broadcasting affiliate KT Skylife now account for some 31 percent of the subscription based-TV market in terms of the number of subscribers, according to data of the Ministry of Science and ICT. SK Broadband followed with 14.3 percent and CJ Hello had 12.6 percent market share.

With the recent deal, LG Uplus’ share in the pay TV market will jump from 11.4 percent to 24.5 percent, with more than 8 million subscribers, making it the second-largest provider in Korea.

SK Broadband is expected to enter the cable market after finalizing a 4.7 trillion-won merger with T-broad. If it completes the acquisition, the firm’s market share will account for some 24 percent.

The company received conditional approval from the Fair Trade Commission in November this year, and it is currently waiting for permission from the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Communications Commission.

KT was working on acquiring D’Live, the No. 3 cable TV operator, but the deal is currently on hold due to a regulation that prevents a company from having more than one-third of total subscribers.

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)