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| SM Entertainment headquarters in Seoul / Korea Times file |
By Kim Hyun-bin
The majority of SM Entertainment employees oppose HYBE's attempt to acquire a majority stake in the company, according to industry officials, Tuesday.
HYBE, the entertainment agency of K-pop group BTS, has purchased a 14.8 percent stake from former SM Entertainment general producer Lee Soo-man for 422.8 billion won ($333.6 million) and initiated the takeover of SM.
According to the "SM lounge" section of Blind, an anonymous community of company workers, SM employees were asked what they thought about HYBE's acquisition of SM. The vote, which began on Feb. 11, asked for their preference between two options: SM's current management with Kakao, or HYBE and Lee Soo-man.
Votes were made by 222 people. Of them, 190 voted (85.6 percent) for the current management and Kakao, and 33 (14.9 percent) for HYBE and Lee, showing SM employees' opposition to HYBE's takeover of SM.
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| HYBE CEO Bang Si-hyuk, left and SM General Producer Lee Soo-man / Courtesy of SM Entertainment and HYBE |
SM employees said that they are not pleased with the takeover by HYBE.
"I was working with the mindset of 'Let's try to be No. 1 again' as the COVID situation is over and performance is clearly improving ― but even that feeling was taken away," an SM employee wrote on Blind. "The feeling of being denied our long tradition and history."
Resentment is also boiling over toward Lee, who transferred his stake to HYBE. "It has come to this point due to Lee Soo-man's own greed," an employee wrote.
"I had pride in being part of SM, but it feels like it collapsed in an instant," another employee wrote on Blind.
Previously on Feb. 10, HYBE announced that it would acquire the 14.8 percent stake held by Lee, the major shareholder of SM. If HYBE is successful in acquiring an additional 25 percent for 120,000 won per share from minority shareholders, the company will secure a 39.8 percent stake and become the largest shareholder of SM.
SM's current executives also oppose the takeover and released a joint statement emphasizing that HYBE's acquisition is hostile.
"SM is entering the 3.0 era, about to transform and leap forward to become a fan- and shareholder-centered company that leads global entertainment once again," SM executives wrote in the joint statement. "We are coming together with all employees and artists to oppose the hostile M&A."
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