Korea Investment Value Asset Management announced on June 10 that it had bought 440,000 additional shares of Korean entertainment powerhouse JYP Entertainment. With the purchase, KIVAM, the second-biggest shareholder of JYP, owns a 6.69 percent stake in the entertainment company.

Korea’s first asset management company owned a stake of up to 8 percent in JYP in May last year, but had since pared this down.

“We decided to increase shares in JYP because we saw an investment opportunity on declining stock prices,” KIVAM CEO Lee Chae-won said in a statement.

He was referring to the overall decline in the value of stocks issued by Korean entertainment companies in the aftermath of the scandal involving former Big Bang member Seungri, who was formerly under K-pop powerhouse YG Entertainment. Seungri is being investigated over allegations that include embezzlement.

Even after terminating its contract with the disgraced star, YG has continued to face pressure from authorities over alleged tax evasion. The developments have affected the Korean entertainment industry, and JYP’s stock price fell around 13.05 percent this year.

Still, industry insiders believe that JYP’s stock price will rebound soon. The entertainment company’s operating profit in the first quarter of this year rose 332.7 percent to 58 billion won this year mainly due to the success of its girl group Twice.

Meanwhile, the operating profit of S.M. Entertainment decreased 72.9 percent. YG posted operating loss during the same period. KIVAM is the fourth-largest shareholder of S.M. with a 5.06 percent stake.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)