SK Investment Vina III to hold 65 per cent of Imexpharm

SK Investment Vina III Pte. Ltd (SK Vina III), a subsidiary of South Korea’s third-largest conglomerate SK Group, aims to hold a 65 per cent stake in Imexpharm Pharmaceutical JSC (IMP).

According to a resolution from the Board of Directors (BOD) in mid-December, Imexpharm has approved the waiver of a public tender offer for the transfer of shares between SK Vina III and its existing shareholders. As a result, SK Vina III will increase its current ownership from 64.83 per cent to 65 per cent.

The transfer is slated to take place following approval at the General Meeting of Shareholders (GMS), depending on negotiations between the parties and market conditions. The timing of the GMS is yet to be confirmed.

If the acquisition and sale of shares leads to the holding of 65 per cent or more of the total voting shares, SK Vina III is required to carry out public tender offer procedures unless the GMS approves waiving this stipulation.

Due to the complex and lengthy procedures in the public tender offer process, and the fact that the number of shares expected to be transferred is insignificant, SK Vina III wrote a letter dated October 20 asking the BOD to consider submitting a waiver request to the GMS for approval. This would result in SK Vina III holding more than 65 per cent of the voting shares in IMP.

SK Vina III has invested in Imexpharm since May 2020 when it acquired 24.9 per cent, or 12.32 million shares, of the Vietnamese pharmaceutical company. Most of the shares (11.3 million) were acquired from Dragon Capital Group, while the remainder came from CAM Vietnam Mother Fund, Kingsmead, and Mirae Asset.

Market researcher IBM has predicted that Vietnam’s pharmaceutical industry could reach $16.1 billion in 2026, up from $7.7 billion in 2021.

According to Fitch Solutions, pharmaceutical spending per capita in Vietnam could reach a compound annual growth rate of 7.8 per cent over the 2022-26 period, rising from VND1.46 million ($61.60) in 2021 to VND2.21 million ($93.25) in 2026 to account for around 5 per cent of the country’s per capita income.

Thanks to this potential, Vietnam has witnessed many merger and acquisition deals in the pharmaceutical industry, including those between Mekophar (Vietnam) and Nipro Pharma (Japan), Imexpharm (Vietnam) and SK Group (South Korea), Pymepharco (Vietnam) and STADA Service Holdings B.Vor (Germany), and Hataphar (Vietnam) and ASKA Pharmaceutical (Japan).

By Thanh Van

Source: VIR