HYBE, CJ, and Kakao Entertainment Aiming for Lee Soo Man Shares in SM Entertainment, Who Will Win?

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The Kpop industry is in sudden chaos after HYBE, CJ, and Kakao Entertainment are reportedly aiming for SM Entertainment shares belonging to its largest shareholder, Lee Soo Man.

HYBE, CJ, and Kakao Entertainment in a Fierce Competition for Lee Soo Man Shares in SM Entertainment

It is a huge surprise in the Kpop industry that HYBE, CJ, and Kakao Entertainment seem to be in fierce competition to take over Lee Soo Man Shares in the agency.

On August 3, the media reported that there were three giant entertainment companies aiming for Lee Soo Man shares in SM Entertainment: HYBE, CJ, and Kakao Entertainment.

Furthermore, each of these companies has presented various appealing deals in order to seal the deal with Lee Soo Man of SM Entertainment. However, SM Entertainment claimed, “There are various discussions on business partnership and equity investment, but nothing has been finalized so far.”

HYBE, CJ, and Kakao Entertainment Reportedly Competing To Acquire Lee Soo Man’s Shares In SM Entertainment. pic.twitter.com/UkJh5cAuNd

— m. (@globalmyeon) August 4, 2021

SM Entertainment Lee Soo Man Rejected Offers from HYBE

HYBE Label, to which the sensational BTS group belongs, was one of the strongest candidates to acquire SM Entertainment shares belong to Lee Soo Man.

Unfortunately, even when HYBE offered a higher amount of deals, they were unsuccessful in taking over SM Entertainment. That is because Lee Soo Man apparently had rejected their offers.

So apparently HYBE is competing (with Kakao and CJEnm) to buy Lee SooMan’s shares in SM Entertainment…but Lee Soo Man rejected

— 자미 ♡ (@TW0524) August 4, 2021

CJ Entertainment: The Hidden Dark Horse

The second potential deal in taking over Lee Soo Man shares in the agency came from CJ. The company reported sending their very own chairwoman, Lee Mi Kyung, to return to South Korea.

On top of that, apparently, Chairwoman Lee Mi Kyung was planning to meet Lee Soo Man in person. Will she succeed?

According to article, in addition to the kakao and naver, CJ and hybe also wanted to take part of SM. Even hybe suggested more higher price than kakao but lee soo man declined. Now CJ also want to take part of sm. The stock of sm will increase 2~3 times.https://t.co/JcS53wIxH6 pic.twitter.com/OuDxZ93HwS

— gom (@OS3oD1XjqXjjudk) August 2, 2021

The Strongest Candidate for Lee Soo Man Shares in SM Entertainment: Kakao Entertainment

Still, Kakao Entertainment seems to be the strongest candidate to take over Lee Soo Man shares in SM Entertainment.

Currently, the KakaoTalk parent company proposed a deal of over 2.5 trillion won (± 2.2 billion USD) for taking over Lee Soo Man shares and management rights.

Moreover, Lee Soo Man has discussed the deal with Kim Bum Soo, the chairman and largest shareholder of Kakao Entertainment.

Kakao Entertainment, HYBE and CJ will be competing for a maximum stake of 18.73% in SM Entertainment. If either company was to acquire all of these shares, they would become SM Entertainment’s controlling shareholder.

— mikael (@kumagi7) August 4, 2021

Aside from the above giant corporations, Naver and Tencent previously reported participating in the competition. However, there has been any further update yet.

Naver and Kakao to Compete Over SM Entertainment Acquisition: Who Will Win? https://t.co/hDaNvd4tAr #Kpop #KPopnews

— KPOPPOST (@kpopppost) May 27, 2021

Netizens Hugely Reacted to the Alleged Retirement of Lee Soo Man from SM Entertainment

Once the news spread about HYBE, CJ, and Kakao Entertainment fierce competition in taking over Lee Soo Man shares in the agency, netizens hugely reacted on Twitter.

In just a few moments, netizens flooded Twitter with #미안해요이수만돌아와요이수만 hashtag, which basically means “I’m/We’re Sorry Lee Soo Man, come back Lee Soo Man”. The hashtag became the top Twitter trending topic in South Korea.

Lee Soo Man you started this whole Kpop thing so you better be here till the end!#미안해요이수만돌아와요이수만 https://t.co/JUcKNUgl2S

— Seulrene (@HOPEiQUENlove) August 4, 2021

no you can’t leave kpop won’t be the same without you 😭😭😭 how about your artists u gonna leave them?? 😭😭#미안해요이수만돌아와요이수만 https://t.co/LgWHGPk61s

— don (@dorkyungdo) August 4, 2021

Lee soo man is a genius. His ideas are far ahead of time. That’s why everyone in the industry follows what he does. He will have some tricks under his sleeves. So Lee soo man seonsangnim please don’t give up your shares go anybody. Stay there #미안해요이수만돌아와요이수만

— shinee_borntoshine (@SBorntoshine) August 4, 2021

Finally, which of these companies will finally seal the deal? HYBE? CJ? Or Kakao Entertainment? Do you think there’s a chance that Lee Soo Man will revoke his retirement plan? Feel free to share your opinion in the comment section.

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