Kakao founder set to attend arrest warrant hearing over alleged stock manipulation

Kim Beom-su, the founder of Kakao Corp., was to attend a court hearing Monday on an arrest warrant requested for him over alleged stock price manipulation related to the firm's takeover of K-pop powerhouse SM Entertainment last year.

The Seoul Southern District Court was scheduled to hold a hearing for Kim around 2 p.m., two weeks after prosecutors questioned the tech tycoon about his alleged involvement in the manipulation of SM shares.

The court is expected to decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for him as early as late Monday.

The case centers on suspicions that the mobile platform-to-entertainment conglomerate and its executives manipulated SM stock prices during a bidding war it won in February last year against Hybe, the parent company of K-pop superband BTS' management agency BigHit, over the takeover of SM.

SM shares were allegedly driven above 120,000 won ($86) per share through alleged rigging, the fixed price at which Hybe was publicly buying shares from investors.

Prosecutors suspect Kakao of purchasing 240 billion won worth of SM shares at prices above Hybe's tender offer price on 553 occasions in February last year to undermine Hybe's takeover bid for SM.

Hybe had acquired a 14.8 percent stake in SM from its founder Lee Su-man and offered to buy up SM shares from small shareholders at 120,000 won per share. But it later withdrew its takeover bid after SM shares significantly jumped.

In March last year, Kakao and Kakao Entertainment became the controlling shareholder in SM Entertainment after acquiring a 39.87 percent stake in the agency.

Kim flatly denies the suspicions. During a meeting of Kakao affiliates last Thursday, Kim said, "I believe the truth will eventually be revealed, because I have never instructed or condoned any illegal acts."

During his previous questioning, he reportedly claimed that he had been informed about plans to buy SM shares, but not about the specific purchase procedures.

Prosecutors earlier indicted Kakao's Chief Investment Officer Bae Jae-hyun and the company itself on stock manipulation charges. (Yonhap)