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As per Naver news, on May 7, 2024, ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin filed for an injunction at the Seoul Central District Court, refuting HYBE's accusations of a takeover against her as baseless. Her representative added that the ongoing situation raised the prospect of obtaining an injunction (a protection order) to prevent its parent company from kicking her out and saving artists.
This evolved out of HYBE's demand for a general shareholder meeting to address CEO Min Hee-jin's termination due to an alleged breach of trust. However, according to ADOR, this went against the shareholder agreement that Min Hee-jin had signed with HYBE. ADOR gave out its statement to the media outlets and said—
"HYBE's claim of breach of trust is absurd, and we have applied for an injunction to prohibit the exercise of voting rights in order to protect ADOR's artists and its corporate value." (as reported by Seoul Economic Daily and translated by Google Translate)
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Using the right to assert compliance with the shareholder contract as a preservation right, ADOR also said that Min Hee-jin moved for a provisional disposition to forbid the use of voting rights against HYBE, with the result that the voting right was in favor of her dismissal.
Seoul Metropolitan Police accelerates the ongoing investigation against Min Hee-jin
ADOR stated that a board of directors meeting will take place in Seoul on the morning of Friday, May 10, 2024. The calling of an emergency shareholders' meeting is to discuss HYBE's demands for Min Hee-jin to step down from her position.
Given that HYBE owns 80% of ADOR's shares, there's a good chance that, should the interim shareholders' meeting occur, the resolution to remove Min Hee-jin as the representative director will be granted. Thus, it appeared that by requesting an injunction, ADOR has been trying to protect Min Hee-jin in the ongoing feud.
Meanwhile, on May 7, another development in the ongoing HYBE vs Min Hee-jin accelerated the course of action. At a news conference at the Seoul Office of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Jongno-gu, police commissioner Cho Ji-ho announced his intention to accelerate the investigation into the accusation made by HYBE against ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin.
The police commissioner further emphasized during the press conference that they will be conducting a comprehensive investigation swifter than normal because of the significant degree of public interest.
Meanwhile, the feud has been going on since April 22, 2024, when HYBE accused ADOR CEO of a breach of trust and an attempted company takeover. On April 25, HYBE filed an FIR at the Yongsan Police Station in Seoul against Min Hee-jin.
Later, on May 3, it was disclosed that Min Hee-jin allegedly sought contract termination of NewJeans members in early 2024 to execute her complete takeover of ADOR.
In addition, police commissioner Cho Ji-ho disclosed that the probe is presently at the stage of document analysis, stressing that the lack of verified numbers does not render the accusations baseless. With new details emerging every single day, both parties continuously lock horns with no visible solutions.
HYBE vs ADOR further discloses NewJeans members receiving $3.8 million each as settlement money in 2023
Each member of the K-pop group NewJeans reportedly earned 5.2 billion KRW (about $3.8 million) in compensation from ADOR in 2023, according to a report by AllKpop. Approximately 26.1 billion KRW ($19 million) is the projected total settlement sum that the NewJeans members got from ADOR.
A notable rise in ADOR's operational profit was also seen over the year. The business turned a profit in 2023, reporting an operational profit of 33.5 billion KRW ($24.3 million), after reporting a loss of 4 billion KRW ($2.9 million) the previous year.
Additionally, around 29 billion KRW ($21.1 million) in rebates were paid out by ADOR in 2022—the year NewJeans debuted. Over 26.1 billion KRW was the settlement amount after deducting 2.9 billion KRW in sales management charges.
As of April 24, the computerized disclosure system maintained by the Financial Supervisory Service showed that ADOR's sales for 2023 were 110.3 billion KRW ($80.1 million). Compared to the sales of 19 billion KRW ($13.8 million) in 2022, the label earned five times more in 2023 and was the third-highest-grossing label among HYBE subsidiaries.
Meanwhile, with sales of over 552.3 billion KRW ($401.2 million), BIGHIT MUSIC (now HYBE Labels) posted the greatest sales of all of HYBE's labels. It represents the BTS and the popular fourth-generation boy band TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT).
Seventeen's management agency Pledis Entertainment, which also represents the girl group fromis_9, disclosed revenue of 327.2 billion KRW ($237.7 million) in close succession. Furthermore, BELIFT LAB announced sales of 27.3 billion KRW ($19.8 million), which is home to the rookie girl group ILLIT and boy band ENHYPEN.
Meanwhile, HYBE had reportedly reached out to the families of NewJeans members and announced to provide support for them to overcome ongoing distress and help them focus on their upcoming releases.
