HYBE, the company behind K-pop groups like BTS and Le Sserafim, is expected to be the first entertainment company in South Korea to be designated as a large corporate group, or a business group subject to public disclosure.
According to the business report released by HYBE in March, the company’s total assets amounted to 5.3457 trillion won, with liabilities totaling 2.2358 trillion won and equity totaling 3.1099 trillion won as of December 2023.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) designates companies as large corporate groups if their combined total assets for general affiliates and total equity for financial affiliates exceed 5 trillion won.
Once designated as a large corporate group, HYBE will be subject to various regulations, including disclosure obligations and a prohibition on exploiting private interests. The company’s founder and chairman, Bang Si-hyuk, the largest shareholder with 31.57% of HYBE’s shares, is expected to be designated as the “same person,” the chief or de facto leader.
The Business Group Regulation Division of the KFTC issued a clarification that “No decision has yet been made” regarding the designation of HYBE as a business group subject to disclosure. “The KFTC is analyzing and reviewing the data submitted by each corporate group for the designation of this year’s public disclosure corporate groups and will announce the results around May 1,” the Commission added. “Therefore, please note that there is currently no decision on whether HYBE will be designated as a business group subject to disclosure.”
This article was originally published on April 10, 2024.
