K-pop sensation BTS' label picks JPMorgan, others for IPO -media

JYP Entertainment

25/02/2020 02:19

SEOUL, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Big Hit Entertainment, the music
label of South Korean boy band BTS, has chosen JPMorgan  JPM.N ,
NH Investment and Securities  005940.KS  and others to handle
its initial public offering (IPO), according to media reports. 
    The IPO could be one of the largest in years in the
country's entertainment industry, with its total valuation
expected to be as high as 6 trillion won ($5 billion), the
reports said, citing industry sources. 
    Big Hit Entertainment has chosen three local brokerage firms
- NH Investment & Securities, Korea Investment & Securities and
Mirae Asset Daewoo  006800.KS  for the IPO, sources with direct
knowledge off the matter told Reuters on condition of anonymity
as the plan is not public yet. 
    The brokerage firms declined to comment, while JPMorgan did
not immediately respond to requests for comment. 
    Founded in 2005, the South Korean talent agency behind
global sensation BTS has helped the South Korean superstar boy
band score megahits globally and sell out U.S. stadiums. BTS
also performed at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles last month.
    BTS broke into the U.S. market in 2017 and was the first
Korean group to win a Billboard music award. The band is set to
launch a new world tour in April.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2AO1F7 
    With BTS at the height of its popularity, it would be the
right time to go public for Big Hit Entertainment, analysts
said. But some are sceptical about the lofty valuation. 
    "The band members who are in their 20s must enlist for
compulsory military service in a few years," said Yoo Sung-man,
an analyst at Hyundai Motor Securities. 
    Big Hit Entertainment's "valuable assets in their prime will
be out of business for a while in the foreseeable future".    
    Founder Bang Si-hyuk held the biggest stake of about 43.06%
in Big Hit Entertainment as of the end of 2018, followed by
gaming company Netmarble Corp's  251270.KS  25.22%, according to
a regulatory filing by the music label.
    Its operating profit nearly doubled to 64.1 billion won in
2018 from a year ago, according to the filing. 
 ($1 = 1,206.9100 won)

 (Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Additional reporting by Hyunjoo
Jin; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
 ((Heekyong.Yang@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 6936 1470;))