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The billionaire mastermind behind some of the world’s biggest K-pop stars is pushing back on accusations that he’s trying to monopolize the Korean music industry, just days before a major potential deal is expected.
Bang Si-Hyuk, chairman of HYBE, the management agency behind bands including BTS and NewJeans, says “a lot of misinformation” has clouded his company’s bid to raise its stake in SM Entertainment.
“It wouldn’t be correct to say that we’re trying to take over the whole industry,” Bang told CNN in an exclusive interview in Seoul.
Last month, HYBE announced it would become SM’s largest shareholder by picking up a roughly 15% stake in the company for 422.8 billion Korean won ($334.5 million) directly from the agency’s legendary founder, Lee Soo-man, who had been battling his firm’s management on multiple fronts.
HYBE later said it would seek to raise its overall holding to 40%, kicking off a shockingly public spat with the leadership of SM. The corporate mudslinging between the titans of K-pop has dominated headlines in South Korea.
Last month, Chief Financial Officer Cheol Hyuk Jang released a 15-minute video on YouTube, titled “The reason why SM is against HYBE’s hostile takeover.”
Jang argued the deal would hurt the company’s overall stock performance, as well as interests of smaller shareholders.
“Even through purchasing agencies, with all the CDs sold in Korea, [from] both SM and HYBE combined, it’s very difficult for us to monopolize the market,” he added.
HYBE agreed to buy its initial stake last month “with the consent of the major shareholder,” Bang noted, referring to Lee, a music producer who is widely referred to in South Korea as “the godfather of K-pop.
