Seoul-based YG Entertainment is a giant of K-Pop, and has worked with superstars including\u00a0BLACKPINK, BIGBANG, 2NE1, and Psy.<\/p>\n
The company was founded by Yang Hyun-suk in 1996. Hyun-suk left the company<\/a> in June 2019, but remains a shareholder.<\/p>\n In 2018, Universal Music Group and Interscope announced a global deal<\/a> to represent YG Entertainment\u2019s biggest artist, girl band BLACKPINK, outside of Asia.<\/p>\n In 2016, Tencent and its subsidiary ticketing company, Weiying, jointly acquired<\/a> an $85 million stake in YG Entertainment.<\/p>\n That deal have Tencent 4.5% of YG, with Weiying owning 8.2%.<\/p>\n This made Tencent and Weiying the fourth and third largest stakeholders in YG, respectively, behind L Capital Asia, the venture investment arm of luxury goods firm LVMH.<\/p>\n At the time, Tencent said in a statement: “[This] move deepens our already successful relationship with YG, as evidenced by [a previously existing] exclusive content partnership between QQ Music and YG.<\/p>\n “Leveraging our extensive user reach, multi-platform capabilities and deep understanding of the China<\/span>\u00a0market, we look forward to working with YG to meet the huge appetite in\u00a0China<\/span>\u00a0for popular Korean entertainment such as music, concerts and variety shows, and to exploring new business opportunities.”<\/p>\n In 2017, Weiying merged its operations<\/a> (and its YG stake) into a rival company, Maoyan Entertainment, which was consequently co-owned by Tencent.<\/p>\n In October 2020, Maoyan divested its stake in YG Entertainment. According to the Korea Herald<\/a>, this left Maoyan with a 5.78% stake in YG, reduced from 8.09%.<\/p>\n In January 2020, YG rival Big Hit Entertainment announced it intended to invest $63 million<\/a> into a subsidiary of YG Entertainment, YG Plus.<\/p>\n
\nTencent share purchase in YG Entertainment<\/h6>\n
\nYG Plus and Big Hit Entertainment investment<\/h6>\n