Twice, Stray Kids to get new office building

Girl group Twice [JYP ENTERTAINMENT]

K-pop agency JYP Entertainment, which houses girl group Twice and boy band Stray Kids, will construct a new office building in Gangdong District, eastern Seoul.

The company announced through an electronic disclosure Tuesday that it won the bid for a 10,675-square-meter (114,900 square foot) plot in Godeok-dong for 75.5 billion won ($56 million).

“The company acquired the land to construct a new building,” the K-pop agency explained in the statement. “We anticipate an increase in work efficiency and productivity by securing the space needed to expand our business.”

Whether the company plans to relocate its headquarters to the new building has not been disclosed.

“As of now, we cannot mention anything else other than what we announced through the electronic disclosure,” a JYP Entertainment spokesperson told the Korea JoongAng Daily.

The bidding price is 18.37 percent of JYP Entertainment's market cap of 3.78 trillion won. Its market value places second among K-pop agencies after HYBE with 9.5 trillion won.

Currently, JYP Entertainment's headquarters is situated in Seongnae-dong in eastern Seoul. The company moved from Gangnam District, southern Seoul in 2018.

JYP Entertainment has been posting profits this year as the Covid-19 pandemic dwindled and its artists became active globally.

The company posted a record-high operating profit and revenue for the April-June period due to explosive album sales and the resumption of in-person concerts. Operating profit surged 88.2 percent on-year to 45.6 billion won, while revenue skyrocketed 123.9 percent to 151.7 billion won.

The K-pop agency is home to artists such as 2PM, ITZY, DAY6, Nmixx, NiziU and Xdinary Heroes.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]