SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s YG Entertainment Inc said on Wednesday that all four members of South Korean K-pop girl group BLACKPINK have renewed their contracts with the label, sending shares of the company up by nearly a third.
For months, there has been speculation that some members of BLACKPINK would not renew their contracts with the label, putting pressure on its shares.
“With strong trust, we signed an exclusive contract for group activities after having serious discussions with BLACKPINK,” YG Entertainment said in a statement.
The label was still in talks with the group regarding an exclusive contract for solo activities, a YG Entertainment official told Reuters.
YG Entertainment’s shares rose as much as 29% to 61,900 won ($47.16), trading at a more than a three-week high after the announcement.
Shares in other major South Korean entertainment labels also rallied – HYBE Co, the label behind K-Pop group BTS, jumped 7.3%, JYP Entertainment Corp rose 5.7%, and SM Entertainment was up 5.2% in morning trade.
BLACKPINK set a Guinness record earlier this year for having the most-viewed music channel on YouTube, which now boasts over 90 million subscribers.
Last month, BLACKPINK received honours from Britain’s King Charles III for their work in raising awareness about climate change.
The group embarked on a worldwide Born Pink World Tour in October last year which came to a close in september, performing more than 60 shows across the world.
($1 = 1,312.5300 won)
(Reporting by Heekyong Yang and Hyunsu Yim; Additional reporting by Youn Ah Moon; Editing by Ed Davies and Sonali Paul)
