South Korean biopharmaceutical company Celltrion Inc. announced Thursday that it will merge with Celltrion Healthcare Co., its sales and distribution affiliate, this year, in a move to grow into a bio giant with annual sales of over 4 trillion won ($2.99 billion).

“Celltrion and Celltrion Healthcare have decided to complete the merger by December 28 in a board meeting,” said Celltrion Group Chairman and Founder Seo Jung-jin. “Our next step will be to merge the combined Celltrion with Celltrion Pharm Inc. as soon as possible.”

The merger between Celltrion and Celltrion Healthcare will be accomplished through the issuance of new shares of Celltrion stock to Celltrion Healthcare shareholders.

The merger price per share will be 148,853 won for Celltrion and 66,874 won for Celltrion Healthcare, and about 0.45 common shares of Celltrion will be assigned for each common share of Celltrion Healthcare.

The shareholders meeting to approve the merger will be held on October 23, and shareholders will be allowed to exercise their appraisal rights between October 23 and November 13.

“The merger came on the belief that only companies with their own production and sales systems can survive amid growing competition in the global biopharmaceuticals market,” Seo said. “In the first phase of the merger, we will integrate the development, production, and sales of biopharmaceuticals to maximize our business competitiveness.”

Upon merger completion, the two companies will become a bio giant with sales of more than 4 trillion.

Last year, Celltrion posted 2.29 trillion won in sales and Celltrion Healthcare 197 million won. The merger with Celltrion Pharm will allow combined sales to reach over 4 trillion won.

“We will use the combined capital for large-scale investments, including the development of novel drugs, to maximize the market share of the combined entity and increase the group’s sales to 12 trillion won by 2030,” Seo said.

By Shim Hee-jin and Choi Jieun

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