LG Household & Healthcare (H&H) said Thursday that it has signed an agreement to acquire an 80 percent stake in Taiguk Pharmaceutical at 44.6 billion won ($40 million).

Taiguk Pharmaceutical 태극제약, established in 1976, is a company specializing in external skin medicine with 60 billion won in sales, and 2.5 billion won in operating profit. The company operates three factories, all of which have good manufacturing practice (GMP) certification. One of the plants in Buyeo, South Chungcheong Province, also received EU-GMP last year.

LG H&H LG생활건강 plans to increase the competitiveness of derma-cosmetics through the acquisition. The company will also increase production and quality management expertise by operating an integrated production base of quasi-drugs and generic drugs.

The company expects to accelerate the launch of a new derma-cosmetics brand by taking advantage of the generic and specialty medicines owned by Taiguk Pharmaceutical and export the product to global markets including the U.S., China, and Southeast Asia.

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