Bang Si Hyuk, the chairman of HYBE, honestly explained the reasons for discontinuing the acquisition of SM Entertainment and sincerely apologized to the artists and fans who may have experienced confusion during the process.
On the morning of the 15th, Bang attended the “Kwanhun Forum,” a gathering of music professionals held at the Seoul Press Center. During the forum, he directly revealed his stance on the SM acquisition and the reasons for discontinuing.
First, Bang shared, “BoA had her 20th-anniversary concert last weekend. Congratulations to her. It is true that the companies played a big role in bringing K-pop to this point, but it is the artists who led the entire business.” He then added, “(The acquisition) was for the artists and fans, but we weren’t considerate enough in some parts. As a person who manages the artists, I felt bad and heartbroken.” He went on, “Our essence is the happiness of the artists and fans. It is so sad that we have made the artists and fans suffer so much. It is our duty to apologize to those people.”
Explaining that the SM acquisition was brought up within HYBE (was Big Hit then) since 2019, he explained the decision to suspend the acquisition came after he decided it “wasn’t absolutely necessary.”
“We judged that the competition between HYBE and Kakao in the acquisition process went too far, and ultimately, we chose the most HYBE-like decision,” he continued. “The staff members worked very hard, but I was not particularly disappointed during the acquisition process.”
Bang then carefully added, “I couldn’t tell Lee Soo Man about the situation during the negotiation, and after it ended, I explained how I came to a decision. He didn’t particularly show any emotions, but if I were to describe it as it is, he said, ‘Why stop when you can win?'”
Meanwhile, K-pop powerhouse HYBE has announced that it has reached an agreement with tech giant Kakao to end their takeover battle for SM Entertainment on the 12th.
