South Korea’s Big Hit Entertainment Files For IPO

SEOUL, South Korea (CelebrityAccess) — South Korean management company Big Hit Entertainment, the company behind the high profile K-Pop group BTS, has filed for an initial public offering on a South Korean stock exchange.

According to Korea Economic Daily, the offering, filed with the Korea Exchange, didn’t include a timeline or planned size of its initial offering but the deal is expected to raise as much as one trillion won ($810 million) for Big Hit.

While a specific timeline was not provided, Korea Economic Daily reported that Big Hit anticipates completing the IPO in the second half of 2020.

While South Korean markets are in turmoil due to the financial impact of COVID-19, Big Hit Entertainment is reportedly seeking to complete its IPO before the seven members of BTS are required to complete mandatory military service.

The group’s eldest member Jin is expected to join the army in December when he turns 28.

Big Hit’s Chairman and CEO Bang Si-hyuk founded the company in 2005 and has held on to 43% of the company, while mobile games company NetMarble holds a 25% stake.

Big Hit reported operating profits of 98.7 billion won ($79.7m) on revenue of 587.2 billion won ($474.2m) on a consolidated basis in 2019.