The Fair Trade Commission officially approved Big Hit EntertainmentŌĆÖs acquisition of Pledis Entertainment after determining that it would not be restricting competition in the market. Big Hit Entertainment is an entertainment label that currently houses artists like BTS, TXT, and GFRIEND. Pledis Entertainment is also an entertainment agency that specializes in idol group management. Pledis currently houses groups like SEVENTEEN and NUŌĆÖEST. On May 20th, Big Hit Entertainment acquired 50% of Pledis EntertainmentŌĆÖs issued shares, and acquired an additional 35% on June 9th. According to the Fair Trade Commission, ŌĆ£We reviewed if the merger and acquisition of Big Hit Entertainment and Pledis Entertainment would restrict competition in the domestic entertainment management and music production market, and determined that the acquisition would not restrict competition in these markets. ŌĆ£We considered the fact that the market share and concentration ratio following the two companiesŌĆÖ merger would not be high in the market, and that there are Āmany competitors in the market such as large entertainment labels (SM, YG, JYP, etc.) and entertainment companies (Kakao M, CJ E&M, etc.).ŌĆØ Source (1)
