SM Entertainment expands its managing business with sports stars with IB Worldwide partnership
SM Entertainment isn’t just about artists, entertainers, and actors now, it’s officially making a move into the sports world.
In a strategic partnership, sports marketing company IB Worldwide (Shim Woo Taek CEO) and SM Entertainment (Kim Young Min CEO) partnered up through a mutual investment.
On August 25th, IB Worldwide announced that after receiving investments of 11.5 billion won, or $9.7 million USD, from SM Entertainment and receiving a capital increase of 8.9 billion won, or $7.5 million USD, being issued stocks by Hyosung Group‘s subsidiary company’s board of directors, the company will change it’s name to “Galaxia SM.”
SM Entertainment also officially stated that they will be issuing new shares for IB Worldwide costing approximately 65 billion won, or $54 million USD, in value. This is the first time in Korea that a top entertainment and sports company have come together in a strategic partnership. The two companies plan to discover a global Sportainment market together.
Under the name Galaxia SM are sports stars In Bee Park (golf), Son Yeon Jae (rhythmic gymnast), Choo Shin Soo (baseball), Shim Suk Hee (short track speed racer), Ryu So Yeon (golf), Choi Jae Woo, and Cha Joon Hwa (ice skater), whom they will manage and give consulting services to.
Shim Woo Taek commented, “We expect that through the collaboration of the two company’s stars and marketing experience it will be possible to create explosive content. Through such killer contents we will increase our value through events, merchandising, health care and digital marketing so that sportainment can further increase the value of Hallyu and benefit Korea in the long run.”
Kim Young Min said, “This partnership is significant in that with such new marketing and business model, we plan to not only target national but global markets such as china. We will attempt to become a global sportainment contents business and a global agency that the world can appreciate.”
Netizens who read the article voiced out how impressed they were with SM Entertainment’s latest business move, leaving comments such as:
[+5,281 / -155] Wow SM…..
[+5,188 / -138] Now they’re managing sports stars? Awesome
[+4,099 / -132] Wow, they’re gonna be huge
[+3,513 / -124] Heol ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ They hit the jackpot ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅌ
[+2,784 / -153] In the meantime, IB had the real queens In Bee Park, Shim Seok Hee, and Ryu So Yeon but only media played Son Yeon Jae? That’s amazing.
Source: OSEN
