Founder Bang Si Hyuk says HYBE had no intention of acquiring SM Entertainment from the start
Recently EMOTIONAL announced not to purchase it little entertainment. After a long struggle over management and shares, they came to the conclusion that they would try to work with SM Entertainment on business platforms.
In a March 15, 2023 press release, HYBE founder Bang Si Hyuk made a shocking revelation about his personal views. He said that while acquiring SM Entertainment is not his personal goal, he needs to look at things from a business perspective.
It was not my personal vision to take over SM Entertainment.
Since 2019, HYBE has been aiming to acquire SM Entertainment. HYBE made two offers but were rejected. Internally, there was both support and resistance to the takeover. Those who supported him found it necessary to rely on his power to expand our global reach. The opposition thought it better to invest this huge sum only for the world market in the future. At that point I decided as a leader that we need to look to the future and I’m not sure if that’s necessary for us now. And so we said goodbye to an acquisition [back then].
– Bang Si Hyuk
After being rejected twice, HYBE had initially discarded its considerations about the takeover. That’s if lee soo mec suddenly Bang Si contacted Hyuk.
He asked me what I thought of the stock acquisition, and many factors opposing the acquisition of SM Entertainment disappeared. At the time I thought everything was fine [for the acquisition] so I accepted. The competitive and overheated takeover battle that ensued was not planned. I decided we couldn’t get involved as we were witnessing a war that was disrupting market order and hurting shareholder value.
– Bang Si Hyuk
Finally, Bang Si Hyuk feels sorry for the artists and the fans.
We were thinking about a brighter future for artists and fans when we started this, but as management we regret not being able to do that in the process. I was really sorry for bothering fans and artists so much that I couldn’t sleep at night.
– Bang Si Hyuk
More information on the results of the intense battle can be read below.
Kakao Acquires SM Entertainment: HYBE Targets Platform Business Partnership Instead
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