In a financial disclosure filed on Feb. 10, HYBE announced that it has entered into a stock purchase agreement on Feb. 9 for the purpose of acquiring 3,523,420 common stocks of SM Entertainment owned by Lee Soo-man Lee, the largest shareholder of SM Entertainment.
Bang Si-hyuk , the largest shareholder of HYBE with BTS, and Lee Soo-man, the largest shareholder of SM Entertainment, with EXO’s Suho Lee Soo-man founded the company but is currently in legal dispute with the management of SM Entertainment after Kakao, an internet and entertainment company, purchased a 9.05 percent stake in the company.
In the disclosure, HYBE said its cash purchase of Lee Soo-man’s stocks amounted to 422.8 billion won . This will give HYBE a 14.8 percent stake in SM Entertainment to become the largest shareholder of the company.HYBE said the purpose of the acquisition is strengthening competitiveness and creating synergy effects in the K-pop market.