HYBE confirms that the agency is considering acquiring stock in SM Entertainment. On February 9th, HYBE confirmed, “We continue to review matters related to the acquisition of shares, including a public offering on the shares of SM. At the time of this statement, nothing has currently been confirmed.”
HYBE added: “In the future, we will come back to disclose more when specific details about this are confirmed, or within a month.” Earlier this week, Kakao acquired a 9.05 percent stake in SM Entertainment. This resulted in Kakao becoming SM’s second largest shareholder and the signing of a three-way business contract between Kakao, Kakao Entertainment and SM.
However, SM founder Lee Soo Man objected to this board decision and will take legal action against the agency Kakao. This would not be the first time HYBE has bought majority stakes in any KPOP company, as it has done the same in the past with Big Hit Entertainment, Source Music, Pledis Entertainment and many more.
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As the week goes by, it will be officially updated whether the company of groups such as BTS was able to finalize any negotiation, as this would end up in the move of SM groups to HYBE, so it might be common in the future to see groups such as NCT, EXO or Red Velvet interact with BTS, TXT or ENHYPEN.