HYBE, home to the global boy group BTS, has acquired Quality Control Music for 314 billion KRW (~300 million USD).
By acquiring the Atlanta-based QC Media Holdings, home to artists such as Migos, Lil Baby, City Girls, and Lil Yachty, HYBE will take another significant step into the U.S. music market.
According to Billboard, "Quality Control will fall under the HYBE America umbrella and the leadership of its CEO, Scooter Braun. HYBE America encapsulates SB Projects, as well as Big Machine Label Group, which HYBE obtained through its 2021 acquisition of Braun’s Ithaca Holdings."
HYBE is said to have paid 250 million USD in cash and issued 50 million USD worth of stock to Quality Control’s two co-founders Kevin “Coach K” Lee and Pierre “P” Thomas.
In a statement, HYBE CEO, Jiwon Park, stated, "Based on hip-hop, QC has been making a strong presence in the American music scene. ith our shared vision, I have high hopes in what we can operate and achieve together.” While Quality Control COO Pierre "P" Thomas stated, “All of HYBE’s leaders are entrepreneurs with phenomenal combined history finding talent and taking it to the next levels."
In the early 2000s, Scooter Braun made his first foray into music after meeting So So Def founder Jermaine Dupri while attending Emory University in Atlanta. After joining So So Def's marketing department, he later discovered Justin Bieber; the rest is history.
This is HYBE's second acquisition of an overseas label. HYBE invested 1 trillion KRW (791 million USD) in April 2021 through HYBE America to acquire Ithaca Holdings, home to Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande. HYBE plans to develop a multi-label strategy through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to increase its presence in the music market and seek convergence of the music industry and technology.
This was HYBE guys...
BTS must be making bank with their shares