Celltrion Group revealed on Jan. 2 that it plans to divest the business rights, excluding domestic specialty pharmaceuticals, of the Primary Care sector in the Asia-Pacific region that it acquired from multinational pharmaceutical company Takeda Pharmaceutical in 2020. This split sale, which excludes South Korea, will separately address the specialist pharmaceuticals in the Asia-Pacific region (referred to as ETC) and the over-the-counter drugs (referred to as OTC) in the entire Asia-Pacific region. Celltrion Group has already finalized the contract for the sale of the ETC business rights.
Consequently, the ETC business rights in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding South Korea, will be acquired by CBC Group, a global healthcare-focused private equity fund based in Singapore. CBC Group has established an overseas special-purpose company (SPC), named HP Bidco 2 Limited, to proceed with the acquisition.
The transaction is valued at 209.9 billion won (US$160.3 million). When Celltrion Group acquired the ETC business rights, they were valued at around 138 billion won. The Group aims to complete the divestiture process by March.
A representative of Celltrion Group stated, “This divestment is a strategic decision made in line with our management principle of ‘selection and focus,’ and in preparation for robust growth following the integrated launch of Celltrion. It also aligns with our goal of early investment profit recovery and liquidity enhancement.”