▲ Hybe CEO Park Ji-won (L) and ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin. (Yonhap)

 

SEOUL, May 16 (Yonhap) -- Min Hee-jin, the CEO of ADOR, refuted claims by Hybe that discussions regarding the takeover of management rights with foreign investors took place.

 

In an official statement released on the 16th, Min's side countered, "It is a blatant lie to portray a lunch meeting before the Hybe meeting as a separate investor meeting for the sale of ADOR. Hybe hopes to cease unnecessary harassment and issue-raising."

 

Hybe submitted a petition to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 14th, requesting an investigation into Min, the ADOR vice-president S, and a foreign securities analyst, Mr. A, for violating the Capital Markets Act.

 

Mr. A, an analyst at a foreign securities firm, provides buy or sell opinions on Hybe. Hybe suspects Mr. A's involvement in the conflict over ADOR's management rights.

 

Mr. A allegedly arranged a separate meeting with foreign investors visiting Korea on the 17th of last month before the Hybe meeting.

 

Min's side refuted, stating, "The analyst did not provide any opinions regarding the consideration of management rights such as capital increases or sales." They explained that Mr. A's meeting was part of a program that included experiencing the growth prospects of Hallyu companies and visiting Seoul's popular restaurants.

 

Moreover, they denied any discussions on capital increases or sales during the lunch meeting, focusing instead on ADOR's 2023 performance.

 

Min's side clarified, "It was a well-known fact that there was no separate investment method for ADOR because Hybe owns 80% of the shares. Therefore, there was no topic to discuss."

 

They also claimed that Mr. A revealed that he had a lunch meeting with ADOR's vice-president after the dinner with Hybe's Park Ji-won, which they said was a private dinner, not related to management rights or audits.

 

Min emphasized, "Private lunch meetings without problems in procedure or content are disguised after the fact as extremely impure incidents just by attaching words like 'takeover of management rights' or 'audit.'"

 

Regarding the allegation of leaking internal confidential information during negotiations for a shareholder agreement, Min's side refuted, stating that they contacted Mr. A at the suggestion of Park Ji-won, the president of Hybe, through an external consulting firm for advice on shareholder agreements.

 

Min explained, "As ADOR did not have its own legal and financial organization to review such issues amid conflicting understandings between Hybe and the label, we asked a longtime friend, Mr. A, to review the contract."

 

Furthermore, they argued that advice was received based on publicly available information regarding what justifications would be needed to accept a negotiation proposal from Hybe, claiming it was far from leaking confidential information or major trade secrets.

 

Min expressed suspicion, stating, "Considering the current situation, it is clear that Hybe's first goal is to dismiss Min Hee-jin and ruin her reputation in society simultaneously," and urged Hybe to stop making indiscriminate allegations and writing novels based on imagination.

 

Hybe responded with another statement, standing by its claim that Min's assertions were evidence of attempted management rights takeover. 

 

The firm stated, "If specific conversations with investment industry practitioners were about the consideration of management rights, it would be impossible... Min deceived the public by claiming she never met with investors in a press conference, but lies are being exposed one by one by evidence and facts. We hope everything will be clearly revealed in investigations by law enforcement agencies and courts."

 

They also urged Min not to use the expression "ADOR's side" when making external statements and emphasized that the management rights takeover was an incident initiated by Min Hee-jin's personal greed, unrelated to ADOR, and some executives joined in as "Min Hee-jin's side."

 

 

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