BTS’s leader on the K-pop deal: We’re not attempting to monopolize the sector
The wealthy producer of some of the top K-pop singers in the world is disputing claims that he’s attempting to control the whole Korean music market.
The chairman of HYBE, which manages artists such as BTS and NewJeans, Bang Si-Hyuk, claims that “a lot of misinformation” has obscured his company’s attempt to increase 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.
He was responding to criticism that his company’s recent bid to buy a bigger share in SM, a company known for representing popular bands like NCT 127, EXO, BoA, and Girls’ Generation, had caused.
By purchasing a 15% stake in SM for 422.8 billion Korean won ($334.5 million), directly from the agency’s illustrious founder Lee Soo-man, who had been engaged in a protracted battle with the management of his company, HYBE announced last month that it would become SM’s largest shareholder.
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.
The reason why SM is opposed to HYBE’s hostile takeover is explained in a 15-minute video that Chief Financial Officer Cheol Hyuk Jang posted on YouTube last month.
The purchase, according to Jang, would harm both the interests of smaller shareholders and the company’s overall stock performance.
Bang dismissed that claim, telling CNN: “I think it’s propagandistic to call it a hostile deal. Rather, I think it is a serious problem that management wants to run a … company as they wish without a major shareholder.”–CNN
