Hive Chairman Bang Si-hyuk has been notified by the court to appear as a witness in the trial regarding the 'SM Entertainment stock manipulation allegations.'
According to the legal community on the 13th, the 15th Criminal Division of the Southern District Court of Seoul (Chief Judge Yang Hwan-seung) sent a witness summons to Chairman Bang on the 8th. Unless there are special reasons, Chairman Bang is required to attend the trial on the 20th of next month.
This trial concerns allegations of violations of the Capital Markets Act by Kim Beom-soo, the founder of Kakao.
Founder Kim is accused of colluding with private equity firm One Asia Partners and others to manipulate the stock price of SM Entertainment during the acquisition process on February 16-17 and 27-28, 2023, in order to hinder a public takeover by competitor Hive, by keeping the stock price above 120,000 won.
According to the prosecution, Founder Kim and Chairman Bang met on February 14, 2023, to discuss the SM acquisition agenda. The prosecution claims that during this meeting, Chairman Bang requested that Kim refrain from pursuing the SM management rights, but later, Kim rejected Hive's proposal with the intention of acquiring SM.
The prosecution is reportedly planning to investigate what discussions took place between Chairman Bang and Founder Kim during Kakao's acquisition of SM Entertainment through witness examination.
[Lee Da-gyeom, Star Today Reporter]
