HYBE Enters US Market with Acquisition of Quality Control Label

HYBE, the South Korean company behind BTS, acquired Quality Control, the Atlanta-based entertainment company founded by Kevin “Coach K” Lee (COO) and Pierre “P” Thomas (CEO) in March 2013.

The deal was made in an agreement to merge with the Atlanta-based hip-hop label, home to famous artists such as Lil Baby, Migos, City Girls, and Lil Yachty, among others.

The deal, which the company paid in stock and cash, cost about $320 million. HYBE America plans to create a global entertainment conglomerate engrained in music. 

The entertainment company also aims to extend affiliations in other platforms relating to entertainment and lifestyle.

Welcome to HYBE family, QC Media Holdings!
HYBE will work together with QC Media Holdings to expand and diversify our footprint in the global music industry. pic.twitter.com/8ym86V2fAR

— HYBE OFFICIAL (@HYBEOFFICIALtwt) February 9, 2023

HYBE America CEO, Scooter Braun, has an existing relationship with Coach and P. Their camaraderie goes way back to the 2000s when Braun resided in Atalanta. It might have helped facilitate the deal.

Braun became CEO earlier this year, and this deal is his first big move. This adds to the company’s tremendous portfolio, including other record labels such as SB Projects.

It is also home to Ariana Grande, Justin Beiber, Kid Laroi, and Big Machine Label Group, including several country artists like Tim Graw, Rascal Flatts, and Thomas Rhett. All this makes the company’s market value stand as high as $6.6 billion.

Braun announced the deal in a statement. “I am honored and proud to have Coach and P join Bang and me as our partners.

QC is one of the most outstanding independent labels in the world. They have incredible artists who are, and remain, the voices of hip-hop culture.”

HYBE and Quality Control’s History

Braun added, “I will never forget riding around Atlanta with Coach over 20 years ago, discussing our ambitions and dreams, and how we said, ‘If they let us into the game, we will never give it back.’ Many years later, we are joining forces to make those dreams a reality.”

Quality Control Music (QC) sells to HYBE America, the company led by Scooter Braun for $300 million. pic.twitter.com/4Nmv2bxZlf

— Rap Alert (@rapalert6) February 9, 2023

P, who was also present, added, “HYBE are great partners for Quality Control as we come together to take our story and work globally.

HYBE’s leaders are entrepreneurs with a remarkable history combination of finding talent and guiding it to the highest levels.

Making QC global requires key partners like this who understand what it means to build something from the bottom and aim sky-high. It matters to us greatly their understanding of culture and seeing what QC has built and the limitless path it can go.”

“P and I are delighted about this partnership with Scooter and HYBE. We are confident they can get us to the global ambitions we’ve set our sights on since the beginning of our company. Nothing means more than our artists impacting worldwide,” said Coach.

Braun also said that it was important to him that Coach and P continued to have the freedom to operate. But now they would have access to more resources to facilitate talent development.

HYBE chairman Bang Si-Hyuk also stated that the partnership was crucial to their plan to innovate the entertainment industry.

They utilize a wide-ranging portfolio and modern technology. He believes they can work together to spread and add global depth to hip-hop.

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