Samsung Biologics plans 3 trillion won capital increase to fund PolyPeptide Group deal
The rights offering aims to accelerate the company’s push to become a world-leading contract development and manufacturing organization, Samsung Biologics said.
Samsung Biologics' headquarters in Songdo, Incheon, is seen in a photo taken on June 28.NEWS1
Samsung Biologics will undertake a 3 trillion won ($2.18 billion) paid-in capital increase to fund its acquisition of Switzerland-based PolyPeptide Group and expand production capacity at its Incheon plant, the company said Friday.
The corporate board approved issuing 2.27 million new shares to existing shareholders, with any unsubscribed shares offered to the public, according to a regulatory filing with the Financial Supervisory Service.
The shares are expected to be priced at 1.32 million won each, which would allow Samsung Biologics to raise about 3 trillion won. The new shares represent about 4.9 percent of its existing shares.
The rights offering aims to accelerate the company’s push to become a world-leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), Samsung Biologics said.
“We are raising capital to acquire PolyPeptide Group and expand our second bio campus in Songdo, Incheon,” the Korean biotech firm said. “The investment will support sustainable growth, and our three-pronged expansion strategy is focused on production capacity, portfolio and geographic footprint.”
Of the proceeds, about 2.71 trillion won will be used to acquire the Swiss firm, while the remaining 294.8 billion won will finance the expansion of the Songdo facility in Incheon.
Samsung Biologics announced last month that it would acquire PolyPeptide Group as it seeks to enter the fast-growing market for glucagon-like peptide-1 treatments for obesity and diabetes.
The acquisition, valued at 1.46 billion Swiss francs ($1.81 billion), is expected to become the largest deal in the history of Korea’s pharmaceutical and biotech industry.
An image announcing Samsung Biologics’ acquisition of Switzerland-based PolyPeptide GroupSAMSUNG BIOLOGICS
Samsung Biologics plans to complete the acquisition by the end of the year after the rights offering. The deal will add peptides to its product portfolio, which already includes antibody drugs, messenger RNA and antibody-drug conjugates.
Samsung Biologics is expected to harness PolyPeptide Group’s manufacturing facilities in Europe, the United States and India to build a broader global manufacturing and development network.
Samsung Biologics plans to build four 180,000-liter plants at its second bio campus in Songdo, which would increase its antibody drug production capacity to 1.385 million liters.
“The rights offering will give us the funds to invest in growth and greater financial flexibility as competition and uncertainty intensify across the global CDMO industry,” a Samsung Biologics official said. “The new shares will represent about five percent of existing shares, so we expect limited dilution for shareholders.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
