South Korea’s D’Live Co., the third largest cable TV service provider that has been placed up for sale by creditors on the verge of default, is seeking to sell its stakes in entertainment units iHQ Inc. and Cube Entertainment Inc., a move that could expedite its own sale process.

According to industry sources on Tuesday, D’Live’s financial advisor Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has been tapping into investment banks for possible sales of iHQ and Cube Entertainment.

Without the two entertainment units, the deal price of D’Live would be lowered, a move that could attract more candidates to buy one of Korea’s three top cable TV operators. Also its 21 creditors would be able to recover about 200 billion won ($177 million) from their total investment in the company as growing popularity of Korean pop culture is expected to lead to successful, speedy sales of the two entertainment companies.

Currently, D’Live owns a 45 percent stake in iHQ and a 30 percent in Cube Entertainment.

iHQ is an integrated entertainment content company listed on the country’s main Kospi bourse. It produces films, dramas and music albums and manages Korean artists in various entertainment fields. Yearly operating profit reaches the 10 billion won level, and sales around 100 billion won.

Cube Entertainment also is one of the leading entertainment companies in Korea that manages several artists including K-pop stars including BTOB, CLC, Pentagon and (G)I-DLE. It successfully returned to profit in 2017, and its revenue also expanded to 24.4 billion won from 19.5 billion won a year-ago period.

On Wednesday, shares of iHQ closed 2.77 percent up at 1,855 won, lifting its total market cap to 271.3 billion won. Cube Entertainment shares fell 13.9 percent to end at 4,150 won, with market cap at 110.3 billion won.

By Jin Young-tae and Lee Ha-yeon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]