Following China Unicom's announcement that it will deepen its partnership with Spanish telecom operator Telefonica, Korean telecom operator SK Telecom recently announced that it will sell its entire 3.8% stake in China Unicom for 1.5 trillion Won (US$1.3 billion; US$ = 1177.5 Won), ending its three-year investment tie-up with the Chinese operator, the Korea Times reported on September 28. The transaction is slated for completion in mid-November, 2009, following the approval of the plan by China Unicom's shareholders. In 2006, SK Telecom acquired a 6.6% stake in China Unicom for US$1 billion, which was reduced to 3.8% following the merger between China Unicom and China Netcom in 2008 during China's telecom overhaul. In the future, SK Telecom stated that it will shift focus to form partnerships with Chinese telecom operators instead of directly buying a stake in any of these operators.