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The Korea Herald
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THE INVESTOR
March 29, 2024

Stocks & Bonds

Celltrion Healthcare files for IPO

  • PUBLISHED :December 26, 2016 - 14:13
  • UPDATED :December 26, 2016 - 14:13
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[THE INVESTOR] Celltrion Healthcare, the distribution arm of South Korean biopharmaceutical company Celltrion, filed a preliminary application on Dec. 26 to list its shares on the secondary KOSDAQ market, seeking a valuation of around 6 trillion won (US$5.05 billion).

The filing puts the company one step closer toward its initial public offering slated to take place between April and June next year. 




Celltrion Healthcare’s plan to go public comes as the company has gained confidence as its drug-making affiliate recently made an entry into the lucrative US market with a biosimilar of blockbuster arthritis drug Remicade.

The share sale could be one of the largest offerings in the biopharmaceutical sector following Samsung BioLogics, a unit of Samsung Group, that raised 1.49 trillion won through its November IPO.

According to industry watchers, given that the company is expected to offer 112 million shares and its shares are traded at 48,150 won on over-the-counter stock markets as of Dec. 26, it could have a market cap of around 5.39 trillion won. The figure outpaces the size of KOSDAQ’s second-largest company Kakao.

The earnings and prospects of Celltrion Healthcare are highly dependent on Celltrion as the former conducts worldwide marketing, sales and distribution of biosimilar products developed by the latter, including biosimilar replications of top-selling drugs like Herceptin, Rituxan and Remicade.

The total assets of Celltrion Healthcare stand at 1.77 trillion won with a net worth of 548.5 billion won. The debt-to-equity ratio is 223.8 percent, according to the company’s filing at the Korea Exchange.

In the first nine months this year, the company’s sales and net profit reached at 320.3 billion won and 20.6 billion won, respectively.

Mirae Asset Daewoo was named the lead manager of the IPO. UBS also helps Celltrion Healthcare as a joint book runner for foreign investors.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)

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