HYBE Turns Focus To U.S. Market After Withdrawing Bid For SM Entertainment
deadline.comKorea’s HYBE, which manages K-pop band BTS, says it’s planning a series of acquisitions and investments in the U.S. entertainment market this year, after withdrawing from a heated battle with internet giant Kakao to take control of rival agency SM Entertainment.
HYBE founder and chairman Bang Si-hyuk said the company will announce a “substantial number of acquisitions and investments within this year as part of our efforts to widen our presence in the U.S.” Bang has also recently said that the K-pop industry is losing the growth momentum that it enjoyed during the pandemic and that major players would need to scale up and diversify in order to survive.
Some of that slowdown is attributed to BTS currently being on a break as a group. “Without BTS, the market drastically shrinks in size,” said Bang.
HYBE already owns Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings, which manages Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, through its HYBE America subsidiary following a $1BN merger announced in April 2021.
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