South Korea’s Hybe Co. will buy Quality Control, the Atlanta-based rap label behind Lil Baby and Migos, as the manager of superstar K-pop band BTS aims to bolster its presence in the US music market.
Hybe America, which is led by music impresario Scooter Braun, will buy QC Media Holdings, the label’s parent, for 314 billion won ($248.7 million) in March, Hybe said in a regulatory filing on Thursday. Hybe will also issue 62.8 billion won in new shares to QC’s two co-founders Pierre "P” Thomas and Kevin "Coach K” Lee.
The acquisition is the latest major US deal for Hybe, formerly known as Big Hit Entertainment, following its $1 billion acquisition of Ithaca Holdings LLC, the media group behind the careers of Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande in 2021. Braun, who was then the head of Ithaca Holdings, later became the head of Hybe America.
"QC is one of the most significant independent labels in the world, working with incredible artists who are, and remain to be, the voices of culture,” Braun said in a statement. Since its founding in 2013, Quality Control has backed groundbreaking acts like Migos, Lil Yachty, Lil Baby and City Girls, becoming one of the world’s biggest and most influential rap labels.
