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| BTS members participate in a year-end music festival in Seoul on Dec. 25. Yonhap |
By Lee Min-hyung
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| K-pop boy band BTS |
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| Bong Joon-ho |
The state-run bank has invested in four funds worth a total of 26.9 billion won ($22.74 million) for Big Hit Entertainment, the music label of BTS, since 2011. The funds reaped profits of 213.3 billion won on the global success of the band.
"To be specific, KDB realized a return of 75.1 billion won from its direct investment of 12 billion won between 2011 to November 2019," a bank official said.
As the seven-member idol group continues to thrill audiences worldwide, the entertainment firm also enjoyed whopping growth in sales and operating profits. The company is expected to become the nation's largest music label after its planned initial public offering (IPO). It is estimated its market capitalization will reach as high as 2.8 trillion won after the IPO.
KDB Capital, the investment affiliate of the state-run bank, invested 670 million won in the Oscar-winning film "Parasite," through a joint fund with Cape Investment & Securities. The cinema fund is worth 10 billion won, with 1.74 billion won allocated for the production of "Parasite" alone.
The exact return on investment has yet to be calculated, but KDB is expected to generate significantly higher returns from its initial investment due to the film's resounding global success.
The investment arm of the state-run bank has so far invested in 42 local movies, such as "Exit," and "Great Battle," for three years between 2017 and 2019.
"We came to realize the global competitiveness of Korea's cultural content with the success of 'Parasite' and BTS," the official said. "The bank will keep leading the innovation and growth of the local culture industry by finding more promising content and making continuous investments."
KDB has also formed an investment fund worth 500 billion won for the local culture industry. The invested capital goes to growth in areas such as film, music, media, drama and animation.
"We have executed investments worth 53 billion won out of the fund for the local movie industry for the past decade," the official said.
The bank said it would further help the culture industry here by expanding its global profile through direct investment and building unicorn companies in relevant areas.
