[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Jisun] Prosecutors are set to summon Kim Beom-su, the founder of Kakao and chairman of the Kakao Management Innovation Committee, for investigation. This comes approximately eight months after Kim was referred to the prosecution.

According to legal sources, the Financial Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office plans to summon Kim on July 9th as a suspect.

Kim is accused of participating in stock price manipulation in February last year to facilitate the acquisition of SM Entertainment. He allegedly injected a large amount of capital to raise SM's stock price above HYBE's public tender offer price, aiming to thwart HYBE's bid in the acquisition battle for SM's management rights.

Additionally, there are suspicions that Kakao, in conjunction with private equity firm One Asia Partners, violated disclosure obligations by failing to report their ownership of more than 5% of SM's shares to financial authorities.

HYBE, having failed to acquire management rights, filed a petition with the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) requesting an investigation. In November of the same year, the FSS referred Kim and other top executives to the prosecution with recommendations for indictment on charges of stock price manipulation.

Meanwhile, Bae Jae-hyun, Kakao's Chief Investment Officer, and the head of One Asia Partners, who are also accused of participating in SM's stock price manipulation, were arrested and indicted last November and this April, respectively, and are currently on trial.

 

 

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