HYBE Announces Withdrawal From SM Acquisition After Coming To Agreement With Kakao
HYBE has announced that it “will discontinue the acquisition process of SM Entertainment.”
On March 12, HYBE released an official statement announcing the end of its highly public battle with Kakao over acquiring shares of SM Entertainment.
Last month, HYBE signed a deal with SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo Man to acquire a 14.8 percent stake in the company, making them the largest shareholder. The deal came in response to Kakao’s attempt to purchase a 9.05 percent stake in SM Entertainment by buying newly issued shares and convertible bonds-an attempt that Lee Soo Man denounced as illegal and which he successfully blocked by taking SM Entertainment to court, where his request for an injunction was granted.
With SM Entertainment legally banned from issuing new shares or convertible bonds to Kakao, the conglomerate moved on to attempting to buy shares from existing stockholders instead. Earlier this week, Kakao made a new tender offer to SM Entertainment shareholders at a higher price than what was recently offered by HYBE.
Two days ago, it was reported that HYBE and Kakao had come to an agreement regarding their battle for management rights and control of SM Entertainment-and it has now been confirmed that the result is HYBE’s withdrawal from the acquisition.
According to a press release, HYBE “made this decision after observing that the market has been showing signs of overheating due to competition with both Kakao and Kakao Entertainment.”
The agency added, “HYBE contemplated the possibility that this acquisition, along with the tender offer, may harm [HYBE] shareholder value and fuel overheating of the market, in making the decision.”
Not only did HYBE and Kakao reach an agreement regarding SM Entertainment’s management, but they also agreed to “cooperate on platform-related matters” in the future.
SM Entertainment Makes Statement Regarding HYBE And Kakao’s Agreement
SM Entertainment has released an official statement in response to HYBE’s announcement that it will no longer be attempting to take over the company.
On March 12, HYBE announced that it had come to an agreement with Kakao regarding their highly public battle to secure management rights and control of SM Entertainment. In a formal statement, HYBE declared that it would “discontinue the acquisition process of SM Entertainment,” leaving the door open for Kakao to take over the company.
Shortly afterwards, SM Entertainment responded with the following statement:
"SM Entertainment will respect HYBE’s decision to halt its takeover of SM, as agreed upon by Kakao and HYBE.
SM will use this agreement as an opportunity to push forward at full speed with our “SM 3.0” strategy that we promised to our shareholders, company members, fans, and artists; and we will make sure to achieve our vision for the future of leaping forward as a global entertainment company that focuses on its fans and shareholders. In doing so, we will raise our enterprise value for all shareholders and continuously expand our policies for shareholder returns.
Kakao announced today in a statement, “SM Entertainment’s strongest assets and driving force are its employees, artists, and fandoms; and in order to respect them, we will maintain autonomous/independent operations, and we will accelerate global growth with a focus on the current management’s strategic direction and vision for the future, including ‘SM 3.0.'” The “SM 3.0 board of directors” that will be launched at the upcoming shareholder meeting on March 31 will create the world’s greatest “IP x IT” synergy with Kakao, the optimal horizontal strategic partner, and will open up the “Next Level” of the K-pop industry.
We would like to express our deep gratitude to the SM shareholders, fans, employees, artists, and everyone else invested in this matter who rooted for and supported SM Entertainment until the end, even amidst the unexpected confusion that followed our SM 3.0 strategy announcement on February 3."
Source: soompi 1 2 via naver 1 2
On March 12, HYBE released an official statement announcing the end of its highly public battle with Kakao over acquiring shares of SM Entertainment.
Last month, HYBE signed a deal with SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo Man to acquire a 14.8 percent stake in the company, making them the largest shareholder. The deal came in response to Kakao’s attempt to purchase a 9.05 percent stake in SM Entertainment by buying newly issued shares and convertible bonds-an attempt that Lee Soo Man denounced as illegal and which he successfully blocked by taking SM Entertainment to court, where his request for an injunction was granted.
With SM Entertainment legally banned from issuing new shares or convertible bonds to Kakao, the conglomerate moved on to attempting to buy shares from existing stockholders instead. Earlier this week, Kakao made a new tender offer to SM Entertainment shareholders at a higher price than what was recently offered by HYBE.
Two days ago, it was reported that HYBE and Kakao had come to an agreement regarding their battle for management rights and control of SM Entertainment-and it has now been confirmed that the result is HYBE’s withdrawal from the acquisition.
According to a press release, HYBE “made this decision after observing that the market has been showing signs of overheating due to competition with both Kakao and Kakao Entertainment.”
The agency added, “HYBE contemplated the possibility that this acquisition, along with the tender offer, may harm [HYBE] shareholder value and fuel overheating of the market, in making the decision.”
Not only did HYBE and Kakao reach an agreement regarding SM Entertainment’s management, but they also agreed to “cooperate on platform-related matters” in the future.
SM Entertainment Makes Statement Regarding HYBE And Kakao’s Agreement
SM Entertainment has released an official statement in response to HYBE’s announcement that it will no longer be attempting to take over the company.
On March 12, HYBE announced that it had come to an agreement with Kakao regarding their highly public battle to secure management rights and control of SM Entertainment. In a formal statement, HYBE declared that it would “discontinue the acquisition process of SM Entertainment,” leaving the door open for Kakao to take over the company.
Shortly afterwards, SM Entertainment responded with the following statement:
"SM Entertainment will respect HYBE’s decision to halt its takeover of SM, as agreed upon by Kakao and HYBE.
SM will use this agreement as an opportunity to push forward at full speed with our “SM 3.0” strategy that we promised to our shareholders, company members, fans, and artists; and we will make sure to achieve our vision for the future of leaping forward as a global entertainment company that focuses on its fans and shareholders. In doing so, we will raise our enterprise value for all shareholders and continuously expand our policies for shareholder returns.
Kakao announced today in a statement, “SM Entertainment’s strongest assets and driving force are its employees, artists, and fandoms; and in order to respect them, we will maintain autonomous/independent operations, and we will accelerate global growth with a focus on the current management’s strategic direction and vision for the future, including ‘SM 3.0.'” The “SM 3.0 board of directors” that will be launched at the upcoming shareholder meeting on March 31 will create the world’s greatest “IP x IT” synergy with Kakao, the optimal horizontal strategic partner, and will open up the “Next Level” of the K-pop industry.
We would like to express our deep gratitude to the SM shareholders, fans, employees, artists, and everyone else invested in this matter who rooted for and supported SM Entertainment until the end, even amidst the unexpected confusion that followed our SM 3.0 strategy announcement on February 3."
Source: soompi 1 2 via naver 1 2