South Korea’s Shinhan Investment Corp. is in talks to buy stakes worth a combined 230 billion won ($203.8 million) in the American biopharmaceutical company Intarcia Therapeutics Inc. and Vietnamese property developer Novaland Group, a rare move in an industry generally reluctant to make large investments in promising but risky business opportunities overseas.

According to the investment banking industry on Thursday, Shinhan Investment has assembled a consortium with Tyrus Holdings and Starset Investment to acquire 1.66 million preferred shares or a 1.84 percent stake in Intarcia Therapeutics for about $100 million. It is currently pooling funds from major institutional investors and plans to form Shinhan Global Healthcare Investment Equity Investment Trust 2 by next month.

Intarcia Therapeutics is a Boston-based biopharmaceutical company committed to diabetes treatments. It has recently developed a novel diabetes therapy, a mini-pump device implanted under the skin that only needs to be replaced every six months. This is viewed as a breakthrough in diabetes care as it can greatly improve medication adherence. Corporate value, which currently stands at 4 trillion won, is expected to surge once the treatment receives approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Shinhan Investment has also joined hands with Vietnam’s leading asset management firm VinaCapital to form a $100 million private equity fund to acquire convertible preferred shares in Novaland Group, the country’s major real estate developer. It plans to conduct a local study with Korean institutional investors later this month before setting up the fund. The securities firm is also considering investing 20 billion to 30 billion won in the fund itself.

Novaland is Vietnam’s second largest property developer with a market cap of 2 trillion won. It commands a 30 percent share in Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s largest real estate market, and is showing rapid growth. Last year it generated 110 billion won in operating profit on sales of 365 billion won.

By Song Gwang-sup

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