Hybe CEO defends his company’s attempt to rein in rival SM Entertainment

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go through Chris Cook | Published on Tuesday, February 21, 2023

The chief executive of K-pop giant Hybe says the proposed alliance between his company and rival SM Entertainment is crucial to cementing the genre’s global reach and mainstream appeal. The comments come after SM’s management team criticized various statements made by the alliance.

Haibei recently announced Acquired a 14.8% stake in SM Entertainmentthen revealed plans to increase its stake to 40%, which would essentially allow it to rein in its rivals.

The company’s initial shares were purchased from SM founder Lee Soo Man. Confirming the deal, he and Hybe founder Bang Si-hyuk spoke about the alliance between the two K-pop ventures: “We decided to cooperate to achieve a shared vision of enhancing K-pop’s global competitiveness.”

However, the deal has not been backed by SM management, who have just agreed to a partnership with Kakao, an internet company that has its own entertainment business and operates South Korean music streaming service Melon. For his part, Li objects to the deal with Kakao and is seeking an injunction through the courts to block it.

Last week, SM’s management team became increasingly vocal in its opposition to Hybe’s ambition to increase its stake in the company to 40%.Jang Cheol Hyuk issued a lengthy statement to YouTubecalling Hybe’s current move a “hostile takeover,” which he insists is bad news for SM’s artists and other shareholders.

Hybe’s stock purchase also thwarted SM management’s bold plans to expand and revitalize the company, and a Hybe/SM merger would raise competition concerns in the Korean music market, he added.

but, According to Bloomberg, Hybe CEO Park Ji-won insisted that his company’s plans are good for the Korean music industry and the K-pop genre. K-pop’s recent rapid global growth is now slowing down, with competitors adopting some strategies to boost all growth, he said.

“The best days are the most dangerous times,” he said, adding: “We’ve always worried that people might one day stop listening to K-pop.”

He also said that while SM management strongly opposed Hybe’s stake purchase, he was not necessarily opposed to said management’s alliance with Kakao.

Noting Lee’s legal action regarding this particular deal, he said: “We cannot detail what is still before the courts, but I can say that we have no reason to object to a partnership with Kakao if it is a way to boost SM’s stock value. “.

So who knows what will happen to all this? But at least we have some new drama to keep our own attention now that the “they will, they won’t” saga related to BTS’s military service is over.