SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — Hybe, the K-pop powerhouse that is trying to become the largest shareholder of its rival SM Entertainment, once again tried to dispel concerns over suspected offshore tax evasion by SM founder Lee Soo-man on Friday, calling it “a scenario that can never occur.” On Thursday, SM’s co-CEO Lee Sung-soo [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — SM Entertainment’s management on Thursday raised a suspicion that the company’s founder and former chief producer, Lee Soo-man, might have evaded taxes through his overseas private company as the management dispute between the two sides deepened. The K-pop company’s co-CEO Lee Sung-soo claimed in a YouTube video that Lee [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — Park Ji-won, CEO of local K-pop powerhouse Hybe, has said his company will ensure the independence of its rival SM Entertainment even after becoming its top shareholder and that SM founder Lee Soo-man will stay away from management, according to sources in the music industry. Park made the remarks [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 10 (Korea Bizwire) – Hybe, the Korean entertainment agency behind supergroup BTS, said Friday it will acquire a 14.8 percent stake in its rival K-pop agency SM Entertainment to become its largest shareholder, a deal expected to have deep repercussions on the K-pop industry. Hybe said in a regulatory filing that it has [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea’s biggest mobile messenger KakaoTalk, said Tuesday that it has acquired a 9.05 percent stake in the K-pop powerhouse SM Entertainment Co. as part of its strategy to strengthen its entertainment business. The company purchased 1.23 million shares for 217.2 billion won (US$173 [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — SM Entertainment will introduce multiple music production lines, veering from the existing system of relying solely on its founder and chief producer Lee Soo-man‘s capabilities, to enhance the company’s business competitiveness, the K-pop powerhouse said Friday. SM’s co-CEOs Lee Sung-soo and Tak Young-jun unveiled the plan on the company’s [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — SM Entertainment announced Friday that it will sever ties with its chief producer Lee Soo-man at the end of this year. SM said its board of directors convened a meeting and decided to terminate a production license contract with Like Planning, a music production company owned by Lee, on [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — Fans flocked to “SM Town Live 2022: SMCU EXPRESS,” which was held for the first time in three years at the Tokyo Dome in Japan from Saturday to Monday. The festival, hosted by SM Entertainment, starred BoA, Super Junior, SHINee, Red Velvet, NCT, aespa and other SM artists. Fans [...]
SEOUL, June 30 (Korea Bizwire) — LG Electronics said Thursday it has set up a joint venture with SM Entertainment, the K-pop agency behind aespa and NCT Dream, to tap into the growing home fitness market. LG Electronics CEO Cho Joo-wan expressed hope the new joint venture, Fitness Candy, will elevate LG from being a [...]
SEOUL, June 30 (Korea Bizwire) — SM Entertainment, a K-pop powerhouse, said Thursday will hold the first in-person joint concert of its artists in about five years in August. The concert titled “SMTOWN Live 2022: SMCU EXPRESS @HUMAN CITY_SUWON” will take place at the Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, 35 kilometers south of Seoul, [...]