HYBE to acquire 14.8 percent stake in SM Entertainment
![Founder of SM Entertainment Lee Soo-man, left, and HYBE founder Bang Si-hyuk [SM ENTERTAINMENT, HYBE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2023/03/31/236cde83-6fe6-42ff-be1b-70f8a09f314a.jpg)
Founder of SM Entertainment Lee Soo-man, left, and HYBE founder Bang Si-hyuk [SM ENTERTAINMENT, HYBE]
HYBE will acquire a 14.8 percent stake in SM Entertainment for 422.8 billion won ($334 million) to become the largest shareholder of the entertainment agency, HYBE announced in a public disclosure Friday.
The shares are currently held by Lee Soo-man, founder of SM Entertainment, who is embroiled in a dispute with the current management of SM Entertainment.
![[HYBE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2023/03/31/42d1ba1f-0588-4209-a60b-cc8eb62983f4.jpg)
[HYBE]
When the deal is completed, Lee will no longer be the largest shareholder of SM Entertainment. Kakao announced on Tuesday that it is acquiring a 9.05 percent stake in SM Entertainment for 217.2 billion won.
HYBE is home to K-pop acts such as BTS, Seventeen, Tomorrow X Together, Enhypen, NewJeans, Le Ssserafim and more. SM Entertainment holds the intellectual property rights for a number of the biggest K-pop groups of the last decade, including TVXQ, Super Junior, SHINee, Exo, NCT and aespa.
BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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