HYBE is transferring all of its shares in Dunamu, the operator of South Korean crypto exchange Upbit, to its US subsidiary, HYBE Americas.
The 861,004 Dunamu shares are valued at KRW 378.2 billion (approximately USD $285.6 million) in a filing published on South Korea’s DART disclosure system on October 27.
HYBE will contribute the shares in kind, receiving 285,583,122 newly issued shares in HYBE Americas Inc. in exchange, rather than cash.
The Dunamu transfer follows HYBE’s approval in March of a $100 million capital injection into the same subsidiary, then called HYBE America Inc.
HYBE’s board approved the Dunamu transfer on October 27.
The latest filing values each Dunamu share at KRW 439,252.
The new HYBE Americas shares will be issued at $1.00 each, with the total calculated using the Seoul Money Brokerage Services exchange rate of KRW 1,324.30 per US dollar on October 26.
HYBE Americas’ own board approved the share issue on October 26, according to a separate HYBE filing on the subsidiary’s capital increase.
Once the deal completes, HYBE will own 1,773,883,122 shares in HYBE Americas, keeping its 100% stake in the subsidiary.
The contribution is equivalent to 10.65% of HYBE’s consolidated equity at the end of 2025, the filing states, a measure Korean disclosure rules use to show a deal’s size relative to the company.
The transfer is scheduled to complete on November 30.
According to HYBE’s filing, that date may change depending on when certain conditions are met.
These include the Bank of Korea accepting a securities acquisition report and HYBE Americas amending its articles of incorporation to increase its authorized share count.
The final number of new shares may also change, depending on the exchange rate on the contribution date and a review under US law, the filing adds.
HYBE’s acquisition filing [translated from Korean] describes the purpose of the deal as “participation in a subsidiary’s paid-in capital increase through the in-kind contribution of investment assets, and establishment of a global investment management system.”
A HYBE official told Korean news outlet Dailian [translated from Korean] that the move “was decided as part of a transfer of the managing entity to establish an efficient management system for investment assets, and is an internal asset transfer procedure to enhance management efficiency through a global business hub.”
Contacted by MBW, HYBE said there was nothing it could add beyond what was already public.
The shares represent a 2.47% stake in Dunamu, according to a separate disposal filing published by HYBE on the same day.
After the transfer, HYBE will no longer hold any Dunamu shares directly, but will retain an indirect holding through its wholly owned subsidiary.
The transfer comes ahead of a planned share swap between Dunamu and Naver Financial, the fintech arm of South Korean internet company Naver.
That deal would make Dunamu a wholly owned subsidiary of Naver Financial, with Dunamu shareholders receiving 2.5422618 Naver Financial shares for each Dunamu share they hold.
The swap values each Dunamu share at KRW 439,252, according to The Herald Business – the same per-share value HYBE has assigned in its filing.
The share swap is now scheduled for March 31, 2027, after Naver Financial and Dunamu moved the date back for the third time in an amended filing last month.
HYBE said in its disposal filing that the Dunamu shares being transferred are subject to that swap.
If the swap completes, HYBE Americas will hold Naver Financial shares in place of its Dunamu stock, the filing states.
The disposal filing also includes Dunamu’s consolidated results, which show revenues of KRW 1.56 trillion ($1.18 billion) in 2025, down from KRW 1.73 trillion in 2024.
Dunamu’s net profit fell to KRW 708.9 billion ($535.3 million) in 2025, from KRW 983.8 billion the previous year.
HYBE acquired the Dunamu shares in 2021 for approximately KRW 500 billion, in a deal that also saw Dunamu acquire 2,302,570 shares in HYBE for KRW 700 billion.
The value assigned to the Dunamu shares in HYBE’s latest filing is around KRW 122 billion lower than that 2021 purchase price.
Announcing the partnership in November 2021, HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk said that “HYBE and Dunamu plan to develop an NFT business under a new joint venture, which will allow the artist IP-based content and products that HYBE has showcased to date to become digital assets for fans.”
The two companies went on to operate a Los Angeles-based joint venture, LEVVELS, which launched K-pop digital collectibles platform MOMENTICA in 2022.
MOMENTICA ended its service in July 2025, according to Korean media reports.
The filing also discloses standalone financial results for HYBE Americas Inc., which posted a net loss of KRW 68.1 billion ($51.4 million) in 2025.
That compares to a net loss of KRW 18.3 billion in 2024, according to the filing.
Revenues at the entity rose to KRW 34.9 billion ($26.4 million) in 2025, from KRW 28.8 billion the previous year.
HYBE Americas Inc. had total assets of KRW 1.62 trillion ($1.22 billion) at the end of 2025, meaning the Dunamu contribution is equal to around 23% of that figure.
Those assets were equivalent to 29.47% of HYBE’s consolidated total assets at the end of 2025, according to the capital increase filing, which lists HYBE Americas as a major subsidiary.
The figures relate to the HYBE Americas Inc. legal entity, whose main business is listed in the filing as e-commerce, and may not capture all of HYBE’s operations in the region.
HYBE Americas is led by Chairman and CEO Isaac Lee, who took over leadership of the US business from Scooter Braun in July 2025.
Lee, who previously chaired HYBE Latin America, was appointed to HYBE’s board in March.
At group level, HYBE reported record revenues of KRW 1.53 trillion in Q3 2026, up 109.8% YoY, beating the KRW 1.45 trillion it posted in Q2.
Concert revenues hit a quarterly record of KRW 726.8 billion, led by the European and US legs of BTS’s ARIRANG world tour.
All KRW-USD conversions in this article use the exchange rate of KRW 1,324.30 per US dollar cited in HYBE’s filing.Music Business Worldwide
