SK Networks completed the acquisition of En-core, a local data solutions and consulting company, at 95.1 billion won ($70.5 million), the company announced Friday.

SK Networks now has a controlling stake of 88.47 percent, of En-core. The deal came three months after the board passed the agenda in July. The acquisition is intended to strengthen data management which closely aligns with AI research and development.

The company has been making a variety of investments to expand its share in the AI sector, funding global companies such as AI device startup Humane founded by ex-Apple employees, unmanned tractor automation solution provider Sabanto, and smart farm startup Source.ag.

Founded in 1997, En-core engages in data consulting and solution business for more than 500 clients and operates more than 1,000 projects in various fields of telecommunications, finance and mobility.

“We aim to expand our business model to data management through En-core and will commit to expanding our market base overseas to Southeast Asia and Japan,” SK Networks’ CEO Lee Ho-jeong said in a statement. “SK Networks will make a leap to become an AI-powered company by creating a management system that integrates En-core’s data and its business portfolio.”

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]