CBC Group, a Singapore-based venture capital firm that invests in medical and pharmaceutical companies, may fully acquire Hugel and take the company private, Bloomberg reported.
A person familiar with the matter, asking for anonymity due to the issue's sensitivity, told the media outlet that CBC is in preliminary discussion with advisers to seek financing for such a transaction. Bloomberg reported that the source added that while no final decisions have been made, CBC Group may decide to relist Hugel in the Hong Kong stock market.
However, the unidentified sources stressed to Bloomberg that as the considerations are at an early stage, CBC could decide not to go through with the deal.
When asked if the report means that the CBC Group will delist Hugel on the Korean market before relisting Hugel on the Hong Kong stock market, a Hugel spokesperson said that the company was unaware of such information.
"We are also confirming the Bloomberg report," the Hugel official said to Korea Biomedical Review, asking to remain anonymous also citing the issue's sensitivity, on Tuesday.
CBC Group was part of Aphrodite Acquisition Holdings, a multinational consortium that acquired a 46.9 percent stake in Hugel from Bain Capital for about $1.5 billion in May.
After the acquisition, Hugel held an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting and appointed CBC Group CEO Wei Fu and CBC Managing Director for Korea and North America Michael Keyoung as non-executive directors.
Aphrodite Acquisition Holdings said at the time that it would actively support Hugel by making the most of the consortium's business capabilities and network resources so that Hugel could grow into a global leading medical aesthetics company.
Other Aphrodite Acquisition Holdings members include a special purpose company jointly invested by leading Korean conglomerate GS and Korean private equity fund IMM Investment and Mubadala, a Middle East sovereign wealth fund.
GS Group was unavailable for immediate comments on the Bloomberg report.
Hugel’s shares ended Tuesday at 120,100 won ($91), up 7.52 percent from the previous trading day.
A local analyst said that the increase in share price seems to reflect the high hopes among investors that Hugel might move to a larger stock market.
The analyst stressed that while the Bloomberg report highlighted the CBC's consideration of taking Hugel private, the rise in stock price suggests that investors responded positively to the possibility of Hugel being relisted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which has a larger capitalization than the Korean stock market.