Bain Capital sells stake in Kosdaq-listed Hugel to consortium

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Bain Capital sells stake in Kosdaq-listed Hugel to consortium

Hugel logo

Hugel logo

 
Bain Capital has sold its 42.9-percent stake plus convertible bonds in Kosdaq-listed Hugel, Korea's largest manufacturer of botulinum toxin. 
 
The buyer is a consortium owned by CBC Group, a Singapore private equity company, Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Investment, and an unnamed special purpose company, which is owned equally by GS Holdings and Seoul’s IMM Investment.
 
The special purpose company is acquiring 27.3 percent of the consortium. The other shareholdings were not disclosed. The value of the transaction was reported to be 1.72 trillion won ($1.46 billion), the largest acquisition in Korea's bio industry.
 
GS Holdings will receive a seat on the board.
 
It said in a statement that it sees the acquisition as a chance to expand its business portfolio in the bio industry, especially in the domestic and global botulinum toxin and hyaluronic acid filler markets.
 
Bio has been one of the company's focuses in recent years. GS Holdings selected the Hugel deal as its very first attempt to enter the bio industry as Hugel has “qualified products, is competitive and has great growth potential globally.”
 
“It is anticipated that Hugel will grow further in the future with its many qualified products and global competitiveness,” said GS Group Chairman Huh Tae-soo. “GS will foster Hugel as a platform that will help expanding the company’s bio business.”
 
Established in 2001, the company has been selling its botulinum toxin products to a total of 28 countries. It has been the No. 1 botulinum toxin maker in Korea since 2016. The market capitalization of the Kosdaq-listed company was around 2.64 trillion won as of Aug. 25.
 
 
The company sells its product in China, the second largest botulinum toxin market after the United States. Hugel's botulinum toxin product was approved for sale in China in October last year.
 
Hugel generated 34.8 billion won in net profit in the first half of the year, up 59.7 percent on year. Its first half revenue rose 43.4 percent to 128.4 billion won.
 
In 2020, the company achieved 211 billion won in sales, a record high in the company's 20-year history, largely led by the growing sales of botulinum toxin products worldwide.
 
Pharmaceutical company Ipsen estimates that the global botulinum toxin market will reach $6.5 billion by 2023 from $5.1 billion in 2020.
 
Hugel shares fell 6.5 percent in trading Wednesday.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]
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