HYBE Bang Si Hyuk talks about the acquisition of SM shares, “I sympathize with Lee Soo Man’s direction”
HYBE expressed its aim to become a “game changer” in the global pop music market by combining the capabilities of both HYBE and SM.
On February 10th, HYBE reportedly acquired Lee Soo Man’s 14.8% share in SM and became the largest shareholder of SM. They explained, “Chairman Bang Si Hyuk shared his concerns about the future of K-pop with producer Lee Soo Man and they sympathized with each other on finding a solution to it”. As a result, a stock purchase agreement was signed.
According to HYBE, Bang Si Hyuk showed his respect for Lee Soo Man, emphasizing Lee Soo Man’s contribution to creating and developing K-pop into an industry. He also expressed his willingness to realize the global vision that Lee Soo Man has drawn, saying “It is because Lee Soo Man sunbaenim pioneered and laid the red carpet that HYBE is waking on the flowery path”. Bang Si Hyuk said, “HYBE fully sympathized with the strategic direction, such as the establishment of a multi-label system, and the vision campaign to save the planet that Lee Soo Man has promoted”. In response, Lee Soo Man is known to have actively supported Bang Si Hyuk, who shares the same philosophy on the future direction of K-pop.
HYBE’s sudden acquisition of SM is expected to have a significant impact on SM’s management structure. SM is currently led by co-CEOs Lee Sung Soo and Tak Young Joon. They recently announced the “SM 3.0” plan aiming at a multi-production center and label system, without the participation of Lee Soo Man. In this regard, HYBE said, “We plan to make every effort to advance SM’s operating structure in connection with the plan announced by SM on the 15th of last month”.
Earlier, Lee Soo Man announced that he would terminate the production contract between his private company Like Planning and SM last year. In the process, Lee Soo Man is supposed to receive fees for three years after the contract ends but he decided to not receive the payments to show his willingness in improving SM’s management structure. HYBE said, “Lee Soo Man will also transfer shares of SM affiliates to HYBE to fully cooperate in improving SM’s management structure. HYBE will invest additional funds through the reorganization of shares in the affiliates”.
Meanwhile, SM management dispute was triggered by Kakao’s acquisition of SM shares. Earlier on the 7th, Kakao secured 9.05% share in SM and became the second-largest shareholder of SM. However, Lee Soo Man protested SM board’s decision and filed an injunction against SM on the 8th. SM’s co-CEOs and management team (including 25 high-level senior directors) did not agree to HYBE’s acquisition of SM shares, saying “The strategic alliance with Kakao is based on the company’s decision to accelerate the implementation of the ‘SM 3.0’ strategy and it has nothing to do with the management dispute claimed by the largest shareholder.”
As the dispute continues, attention is focused on the upcoming SM shareholders’ meeting scheduled for next month.
Source: daum
