HYBE’s Bang Si Hyuk Responds to Allegations of Monoloping K-Pop in ‘Hostile Deal’ With SM Entertainment

It seems like the last few days have been crazy in the K-Pop world.

This was reported in February little entertainment etc cocoa clasped hands, with more messages suggesting that the founder Lee Soo Man disapproved of the deal and intended to sue the directors of SM Entertainment.

February 10th EMOTIONAL announced that he had bought Lee Soo Man’s stock, making him the company’s largest shareholder. Still, it received bad reactions from SM Entertainment staff, who called it a “hostile takeover” by HYBE founder Bang Si Hyuk.

Amid all the chaos, Bang Si Hyuk recently sat down for an interview with CNN and discussed everything that happened after he and HYBE bought shares in SM Entertainment.

While the beginning of the interview seemed lighthearted and the host even tried to see if he had a chance to be an idol…

The host Richard search didn’t beat around the bush, explaining that a lot of people think HYBE is trying to “take over” the entire K-pop industry.

While that sounds extreme, fans pointed it out after the company acquired not only SM stock but also SM’s influence weaver.

When asked why he wanted SM Entertainment despite management’s opinion, Bang Si Hyuk dismissed the claims. The HYBE owner explained, “It wouldn’t be right to say that we’re trying to take over the entire industry,” even state that it is misinformation.

For example, people say that there will be serious oligopoly (a state of limited competition) in the music market. But you have to analyze where the music is sold.

— Bang Si Hyuk

Bang Si Hyuk stated that despite thoughts and sales in Korea, there is no way that the combination of HYBE and SM will monopolize the K-pop industry.

You might assume that it’s mainly sold in Korea, excluding all international orders, even by buying companies, with all the CDs sold in Korea, SM and HYBE together, it’s very hard for us to monopolize the market.

— Bang Si Hyuk

K-pop isn’t just about CDs, and after revealing the breadth of the industry’s products, Bang Si Hyuk says that’s also one reason why it wouldn’t happen.

Richard Quest then came up with the idea of ​​acquiring HYBE stock as a “hostile deal,” with everyone wanting different things.

As always, Bang Si Hyuk got to the point and explained: “I think it’s crucial to get the terms straight first.” He felt that the idea of ​​a “hostile deal” had a clear meaning that needed to be understood.

In economics, this basically describes the case in which a company is collected on the market against the will of a large or oligopoly shareholder. However, we took over their participation with the consent of the major shareholder as part of due process.

— Bang Si Hyuk

Bang Si Hyuk then shared his own concerns about SM Entertainment’s management.

Of course, with such resistance from SM, the next question was what he would do. Although the number of shares is not an issue, Bang Si Hyuk believes a general meeting is necessary and could help solve SM’s problems.

Only when the support is there can we form the board we want. I’ve long been saddened that a good company like SM doesn’t have a good governance structure. With the acquisition of shares at that time, we almost solved the governance problem. And HYBE is known for helping artists to be successful only in the management process, without touching their autonomy of their artistic originality.

— Bang Si Hyuk

Finally, Bang Si Hyuk said he knew people were curious about the implications of HYBE’s acquisition of SM.

With the future of HYBE and SM Entertainment looking uncertain and chaotic, Bang Si Hyuk seems determined to let both companies benefit.