Fine Investment Corp. is in advanced talks to acquire Boryung Biopharma for an undisclosed sum. The deal is expected to be announced soon, pending the completion of due diligence and negotiations over the purchase price.

Fine Investment plans to acquire a 100 percent stake in Boryung Biopharma, including shares held by Boryung Partners (69.29 percent), Boryung CEO Jay Kim (1.78 percent), and all other stakes held by investors such as Shinhan Investment & Securities and Mirae Asset Securities.

"Fine Investment is currently conducting the due diligence, which will take about four weeks, and the company expects it will end by late June or early July," a Boryung Holdings official told Korea Biomedical Review. "Regarding the sale price of Boryung Biopharma, while we will have to go into a more in-depth discussion after the due diligence process is over, initial talks between the two companies have been going back and forth around 500 billion won ($387 million)."

This is similar to the amount offered by Dongwon Industries, which was selected as the preferred bidder for Boryung Biopharma in February.

During that time, while Boryung Biopharma had hoped to get more than 600 billion won for the sale at the time, the negotiations were ultimately terminated due to the inability to narrow down the differences with Dongwon Industries.

Industry watchers are keenly observing whether Boryung Biopharma and Fine Investment will be able to agree on a sales price after the due diligence process.

Established in 1991, Boryung Biopharma is an affiliate of Boryung Group, developing vaccines and new drugs.

Boryung Biopharma is known for developing Korea's first oral typhoid vaccine, and the company is ranked third in the domestic vaccine industry in terms of sales.

It also produces eight of the 18 vaccines listed in the National Immunization Program (NIP), enabling it to record stable sales every year.

In addition to vaccines, the company has a diverse portfolio of specialty drugs, diagnostic kits, cord blood, genetic tests, and fluids.

The company has built a strong sales infrastructure centered on local and general hospitals.

As a result, Boryung Biopharma has been experiencing solid growth in recent years. In 2022, Boryung Biopharma's sales and operating profit, based on separate financial statements, was 158.9 billion won and 21.9 billion won, up 14.27 and 6.3 percent compared to the previous year.