[Newsmaker] Hybe, Ithaca Holdings ready for ‘quantum leap’

Amid the buzz caused by Hybe’s merger with Ithaca Holdings, key figures from the two companies expressed their excitement through a video released on YouTube Monday.

Hybe, formerly known as Big Hit Entertainment, announced Friday it would acquire Ithaca Holdings and its properties, including SB Projects and its management clients Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and Demi Lovato.

“Hybe has achieved continued growth by facing head-on new challenges that drive change such as the recent reorganization of our corporate identity and structure. And now, we are preparing to take another quantum leap with the best partner in the world,” Bang Si-kyuk, chairman and CEO of Hybe, said in the video. 
 

“The perhaps inevitable joining of HYBE and Ithaca Holdings marks the start of a new adventure no one could have possibly imagined,” he said.

Scooter Braun, chairman and CEO of Ithaca Holdings, said, “This is an opportunity for us to make history and further innovate the music industry and revolutionize the game itself.”
 

“This will be the first time Hybe’s groundbreaking systems and curation will be integrated in the US market at the onset of an artist’s career. Plus, it will help us to continue further the careers of the artists we already work with,” he added.

The K-pop juggernaut BTS managed by Hybe offered their congratulation in the video as well.

“We are so happy to see so many artists that we cherish and love become a part of this family. It feels like the world is getting more connected and even smaller,” RM of BTS said.

Bieber also appeared in the video.

“The prospects of working together with these amazing teams and stepping further in to the global music scene is very exciting,” Bieber said. “I am thrilled at the potential that this alliance holds.”

“Let‘s make history,” he added.

With the $1 billion deal, Hybe will acquire a 100 percent stake in Ithaca Holdings, adding iconic pop stars Bieber, Grande, Lovato, J Balvin and more to its current portfolio that includes K-pop bands such as BTS, TXT and Seventeen.

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)