Famous for its global mega-hit idol group BTS, Big Hit Entertainment (“Big Hit”) made its debut on the KOSPI Market of the Korea Exchange, with its shares starting to be traded on October 15, 2020 at the stock opening price of KRW 270,000 per share, being double the IPO price of KRW 135,000 per share. Big Hit’s IPO was the largest Korean IPO in the past three years having been 1,117 times oversubscribed by institutional investors and 607 times oversubscribed by retail investors. NH Investment & Securities Co., Ltd., Korea Investment & Securities Co., Ltd., J.P. Morgan Securities (Far East) Limited, Seoul Branch, and Mirae Asset Daewoo Co., Ltd. acted as lead managers.

Big Hit is a leading entertainment company in Korea with its business being mainly divided into the ‘label’ business that focuses on music production and discovering and nurturing artists, and the ‘domain’ business which focuses on supporting and commercializing on intellectual properties created by the artists. Big Hit’s pop idol group BTS has created a global sensation, becoming the third group in 50 years to have three number one albums on the Billboard 200 charts in less than 12 months last year, with its song “Dynamite” having ranked first on, among others, the Billboard Hot 100 and Spotify’s Global Top 50 Chart in 2020.

BKL acted for the underwriters in Big Hit’s IPO, following on from its representation in the other two recent monumental Korean IPOs by SK Biopharm and Kakao Games, and thereby having advised on all of the three largest Korean IPOs in 2020, once again proving itself to be the leading Korean law firm in IPOs. 

BKL contributed to the success of the Big Hit IPO by advising the underwriters on all aspects of the Big Hit IPO, from the early preparatory stages of the IPO to the transactional structuring discussions, the Korea Exchange’s listing eligibility review process, preparation and submission of the securities registration statement, preparation and review of related agreements and documents relating to the IPO, and the public offering, settlement and subscription process. BKL’s team comprised of partners Hee-Gang SHIN, Ingi MIN and Jeong-Hoon LEE, associates Hyun Jung KIM, Jung Won HWANG and Youna KIM, and senior foreign attorney (State of New York) Heesug CHUNG.