From Believe’s $800m in annual revenues to HYBE ending its SM Entertainment takeover bid… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up

Welcome to Music Business Worldwide’s weekly round-up – where we make sure you caught the five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their income and reduce their touring costs.

A corporate saga gripping the music business in South Korea entered its latest phase this week, as music giant HYBE officially ended its attempt to take over its rival, SM Entertainment.

The K-pop company said in a statement that it was suspending its acquisition bid, for a 40% stake in SM, following a discussion with tech firm Kakao – its rival bidder in the SM takeover process.

On Sunday (March 12), HYBE officially pulled out of the battle for control of SM, issuing a statement that reads: “HYBE made this decision after observing that the market has been showing signs of overheating due to competition with both Kakao and Kakao Entertainment.”

Elsewhere, SM Entertainment revealed, via an investor presentation setting out its global expansion and investor strategy, that it plans to acquire a music company in the US to speed up its global expansion.

SM says it is currently “reviewing companies appropriate for SM’s genre spectrum” in the US and is looking to expand into hip-hop and R&B.

Meanwhile, Paris-headquartered music company, and TuneCore owner, Believe, published its full-year financial results for 2022 (its second set of full-year results since floating on the Paris Euronext in 2021). The company generated annual revenues of €760.8 million (USD $800m).

Plus, Midia Research estimated that global recorded music revenues grew 6.7% YoY in 2022 to reach  $31.2 billion, while SESAC Music Group acquired content management, analytics, delivery and distribution tech provider AudioSalad.

Here’s what happened this week…

1) HYBE PULLS OUT OF BID TO ACQUIRE 40% STAKE IN SM ENTERTAINMENT: ‘THE MARKET HAS BEEN SHOWING SIGNS OF OVERHEATING DUE TO OUR COMPETITION WITH KAKAO.’

HYBE, the South Korea-headquartered music giant, has officially ceased its attempt to acquire a 40% stake in rival K-pop company, SM Entertainment.

HYBE said in a statement on Sunday (March 12) that it was suspending its acquisition bid following a discussion with tech firm Kakao – its rival bidder in the SM takeover process.

HYBE last month acquired a 14.8% stake in SM Entertainment, for around USD $335 million, via the acquisition of shares from Lee Soo-man, SM…