K-pop powerhouse SM to launch US office with Kakao

K-pop powerhouse SM Entertainment Co. and Kakao Entertainment will jointly launch an office in the US later this year to boost their global businesses and investments in intellectual property, the two firms said in a press release on Tuesday.

The decision follows a contract signed in February that the two firms will establish a 50:50 joint venture in the US, which will oversee SM artists’ music concerts and other events. Kakao is the largest shareholder of SM with 40% ownership.

SM, the K-pop pioneer and music label behind NCT, Red Velvet and aespa, will support the new office’s cultural IP business and content production. Kakao Entertainment, a unit under Korea’s dominant mobile platform Kakao Corp., will back the office’s music content distribution.

The two companies will also accelerate their musical artists’ activities in North America and Europe, secure global IPs and strengthen partnerships with overseas music labels via strategic investments.  

The new entity will merge each US affiliate of Kakao Entertainment and SM. Jang Yoon-jung, Kakao Entertainment’s Global Strategic Officer and SM’s Chief Business Officer, will become the new office head.

The new entity will be established by the end of this year. Kakao, Kakao Entertainment and SM will discuss further collaborations such as planning, production and distribution of K-pop content.

Write to Sun A Lee at suna@hankyung.com

Jihyun Kim edited this article.