Kakao Reportedly Plans On Becoming The Largest Shareholder In SM Entertainment

Kakao reportedly plans on becoming SM Entertainment‘s largest shareholder by buying up to 35% of SM Entertainment’s shares at a price of ₩150,000 KRW (about $116 USD) per share. The price is 25% higher than the ₩120,000 KRW (about $92.40 USD) HYBE paid last month. If Kakao succeeds, it will become the largest shareholder in SM Entertainment, surpassing HYBE, which has a 19.43% stake.

On March 7, it was reported that Kakao and Kakao Entertainment held an emergency board meeting on March 6, where the decision was made to start publicly acquiring shares from March 7 to March 26. The total price of the takeover is estimated to cost ₩1.25 trillion KRW (about $963 million USD). Kakao and Kakao Entertainment will reportedly shoulder the cost together.

Previously, HYBE revealed that it has so far acquired 233,817 shares on the public market, good for 0.98% of the company, a far cry from the 25% it had planned to purchase. In total, HYBE owns 15.78% of SM Entertainment shares.

Stay tuned for updates.