The transaction marks its strategic entrance into the medical aesthetics sector, joining an industry-leading portfolio in the pharmaceuticals and biotech, medical technology and service sectors
A consortium led by CBC Group (CBC) announced the signing of definitive agreements to acquire a 46.9 per cent equity interest (the ‘Transaction’) in Hugel, from Bain Capital. The market capitalisation of Hugel is approximately $2.5 billion. Members of the consortium include CBC, Asia’s largest healthcare-dedicated investment firm headquartered in Singapore, Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala), the Abu Dhabi-based investor, GS Holdings Corp (GS), the leading business group in South Korea, ranked seventh in total revenue and eighth in total assets and IMM Investment Corp (IMM), a leading investment firm based in Korea investing across alternative asset classes including growth equity, infrastructure, and venture capital.
Michael Keyoung, MD and Head of North America and Korea at CBC, said, “We are delighted to pursue this incredible opportunity in collaboration with our strategic partners from Mubadala, GS and IMM. This marks the beginning of CBC’s journey into the global medical aesthetics sector, in addition to our current pharma, medtech and services exposure. By leveraging our foothold in international markets, we are confident that Hugel as a Korea-based company will become a leading global aesthetics business by expanding significantly into the US, Europe, China and the rest of the world. CBC will continue to further develop its global healthcare portfolio with strong support from our global investors.”
Camilla Macapili Languille, Head of Life Sciences at Mubadala, said, “We are excited about embarking on Hugel’s growth journey in partnership with CBC, GS and IMM. This opportunity cements Mubadala Life Sciences’ entry into Asia alongside our colleagues from Mubadala’s China Investment Programme team, who already have an established presence in China and a long-standing relationship with CBC. We will work closely with our consortium partners and leverage our network to support Hugel’s vision of becoming a leading global medical aesthetics company.”
Huh Tae-soo, Chairman, GS, said, “We are pleased to partner with CBC, Mubadala and IMM in taking Hugel to the next level of growth by combining our respective expertise with the company’s well-positioned product offering and competitiveness in the global market. Embarking on this partnership underscores our intention to expand our business by diversifying our bio portfolio.”
Tim Chang, CEO, IMM, said, “We are delighted to partner with CBC, Mubadala, and GS to invest in Hugel, further strengthening our global footprint. With IMM’s past success in the healthcare sector, we are confident that we can help Hugel to grow beyond Korea to become a truly global player.”
As CBC continues to build its presence in the Asian healthcare sector, this transaction marks its strategic entrance into the medical aesthetics sector, joining an industry-leading portfolio in the pharmaceuticals and biotech, medical technology and service sectors. Founded in 2014, CBC has consistently focused on control-oriented acquisitions and platform-building investments in leading Asian businesses. With its entrepreneurial vision and drive to build and transform healthcare businesses, CBC plays an active role in supporting its portfolio companies with the development of long-term and innovative growth strategies.
Established in 2001, Hugel is a leader in the botulinum toxin and hyaluronic acid fillers space in Korea and also develops, manufactures and distributes cosmeceutical products. In October 2020, its injectable type A botulinum toxin officially received marketing approval from the National Medical Products Administration of China, which made Hugel the fourth type A botulinum toxin product manufacturer-approved for launch in China and the first of its kind from South Korea. In conjunction with this approval, Hugel expects to obtain marketing approvals in Europe and the US in the next 12 months.
Morgan Stanley is acting as CBC’s financial advisor to the transaction.
