South Korean lady group aespa on the 2022 KBS Track Pageant at Jamsil Area on Dec. 16, 2022, in Seoul, South Korea.
The Chosunilbo Jns | Imazins | Getty Pictures
The Ok-pop company behind BTS is ready to change into the biggest shareholder of SM Leisure — the legacy firm recognized to have kickstarted the wave of recognition of Korean popular culture.
Hybe Co. agreed to accumulate a 14.8% stake held by SM Leisure’s founder Lee Soo-man by March, in keeping with a submitting launched early Friday morning forward of Seoul’s market open — and pledged in a separate discover to purchase one other 25% stake.
That will make Hybe a high shareholder in SM Leisure. Lee is presently SM Leisure’s high investor with a 18.45% stake, in keeping with Refinitiv information, adopted by South Korea’s Nationwide Pension Service, KB Asset Administration and Norway’s Norges Financial institution Funding Administration, its newest filings confirmed.
The deal is focused at “elevating its competitiveness within the Ok-pop business and producing a synergy impact,” Hybe stated in its submitting.
Shares of SM Leisure soared on Friday, rising greater than 16% on the open in Seoul. Hybe rose 6% and JYP Leisure rose 2.5%, whereas YG Leisure gained 3.8%.
Woman group NewJeans attend the 2022 The Truth Music Awards on Oct. 8 in Seoul, South Korea.
Chung Sung-jun | Getty Pictures Leisure | Getty Pictures
The company can also be recognized for rising lady group NewJeans — which debuted on Billboard’s Sizzling 100 chart with its hit “Ditto” final month. That achievement got here inside six months of the group’s debut.
SM Leisure can also be the company behind high bands Tremendous Junior, Women’ Technology and Purple Velvet, a gaggle that carried out in entrance of North Korean chief Kim Jong Un in 2018 at the latest peak of inter-Korean diplomacy, alongside then president Moon Jae-in.
Hybe bought 3.5 million shares of SM Leisure at 422.8 billion received ($334.2 million) — or 120,000 received per share, with a premium of greater than 20% in contrast with SM Leisure’s closing worth of 98,500 received as of Thursday’s market shut.
That comes after South Korean web firm Kakao introduced plans to accumulate a 9% stake in SM Leisure in a deal price 217 billion received. Kakao shares surged shortly after the announcement on Tuesday earlier this week and final traded greater than 4% decrease on Friday.