Bang Si-hyuk, Chairman of HYBE, to Appear as a Witness in SM Stock Manipulation Trial
Bang Si-hyuk, the Chairman of HYBE, will appear as a witness in a trial related to the 'allegations of stock manipulation by SM Entertainment'.
According to the legal community, the Seoul Southern District Court's Criminal Division 15 (Presiding Judge Yang Hwan-seung) sent a witness summons to Chairman Bang on the 8th.
Chairman Bang is required to testify in court on the 20th of next month unless there are special circumstances.
This trial concerns the violation of capital market laws by Kim Beom-soo, the founder of Kakao. He was indicted for allegedly conspiring with private equity fund One Asia Partners and others to manipulate the stock price of SM Entertainment to keep it above the public purchase price of 120,000 won during the acquisition process on February 16-17 and 27-28, 2023, in order to obstruct HYBE’s public purchase.
Attention is focused on discussions between Bang Si-hyuk and Kim Beom-soo regarding the acquisition of SM.
The prosecution plans to examine what discussions took place between Chairman Bang and Founder Kim at the time of Kakao’s acquisition of SM Entertainment through witness interrogation.
According to the prosecution, the two met on February 14, 2023, to discuss the acquisition of SM, during which Chairman Bang requested that Kakao refrain from entering the bid for SM's management rights. However, it is the prosecution's view that Founder Kim, having the intention to acquire SM, rejected this request.
Through this witness appearance, the actual discussions related to the acquisition of SM between the two titans of the entertainment industry, Chairman Bang Si-hyuk and Founder Kim Beom-soo, are expected to come to light. Particularly, there is a possibility that new facts regarding the private negotiations and competitive dynamics between HYBE and Kakao during the SM acquisition process may be revealed, drawing significant interest from the industry.
At that time, HYBE had purchased shares from the largest shareholder, former chief producer Lee Soo-man, who held 14.8% of SM's shares, and conducted a public purchase for general shareholders, but Kakao entered the competition by offering a higher price.
Ultimately, HYBE withdrew from the competition for the acquisition of SM, and Kakao became the largest shareholder of SM.
Image Source: Bang Si-hyuk / News1, HYBE Headquarters / News1
