HYBE-Naver deal is approved by the FTC

Korea's antitrust regulator said Thursday it has approved a deal by Naver and HYBE, the talent development and management company that created BTS, to merge their K-pop fan community platform services.

In January, Naver and HYBE announced a deal to combine their K-pop fan community platform services, V-LIVE and Weverse, in a bid to reach out to more global fans.

Under the deal, HYBE’s Weverse will take over Naver's V-LIVE business, and Naver will acquire a 49 percent stake in Weverse for 412 billion won ($363 million).

The Korea Fair Trade Commission said it has given the green light to the proposed deal as it is not likely to hurt market competition.

The regulator said the deal will not hamper competition as there are already many operators providing similar online community services for K-pop fans.

Yonhap