F&F Co., a South Korean fashion and cosmetics retailer, has set up an entertainment subsidiary with hopes to ride on the K-pop boom that would help diversify profit through synergy with its own brands.

F&F announced Tuesday that it established F&F Entertainment that will be headed by Choi Jae-woo, a former executive at Kakao Entertainment Corp.

Choi worked for Kakao Entertainment for 12 years and was in charge of managing the investment and distribution of music content, including original soundtracks (OST) of Korean dramas. He also produced OSTs for popular Korean dramas “Secret Garden” and “You Who Came From The Stars.”

As part of its first project, F&F Entertainment will hold a global audition program to pick members of a K-pop girl group in the second half of this year. The company is said to be in talks with a TV broadcaster that will air the show.

F&F advanced into the entertainment world in March last year by acquiring a stake in Victory Contents Co., a TV production house best known for “Something Happened in Bali” and “War of Money Memorial.”

The company also invested in WhyNot Media, a pioneer in web drama production in Korea, and Bound Entertainment, a production behind Apple TV+’s “Dr. Brain.”

F&F, one of the largest fashion enterprises in Korea, is engaged in the distribution of various fashion brands including MLB and Discovery Expedition.

By Shin Hye-rim and Cho Jeehyun

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