Kakao has responded to rumors that the company was interested in purchasing Lee Soo Man's share in SM Entertainment.

The rumor stated that Kakao has agreed to acquire the full of SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo Man's shares in the firm on March 11, according to Korea Economy TV. SM Entertainment is now owned by Lee Soo Man, who is the firm's top shareholder, with an 18.73 percent interest in the company. It is widely assumed that whoever gets Lee Soo Man's shares will also acquire SM Entertainment's managerial rights. Following reports that HYBE, CJ ENM, and Kakao were all in competition to buy Lee Soo Man's interest in SM, it was stated that the latter's offer had been rejected.

However, the next morning, Kakao issued an official clarification, stating that no decision had been made about a prospective acquisition. "To boost our global content business's competitiveness, we have been continually considering a broad array of potential measures, including partnerships and equity investment, but at this time, nothing specific has been agreed," a spokesman for the firm added.

When reports spread that CJ ENM's acquisition of Lee Soo Man's shares had been completed in October, SM Entertainment quickly debunked them, claiming, "We are actively in conversations with a lot of organizations exploring several different angles." "While we are actively exploring a varied array of strategies for the expansion of our music company, nothing has been finalized," CJ ENM stated in a similar vein.