This article was posted on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 4:59 p.m. on Oct. 10, 2025.
KB Securities and UAMCO are pursuing the acquisition of cosmetics original design manufacturer (ODM) specialist PicosTech together with SBI Investment KOREA. Initially they moved forward with a three-party joint acquisition with the new asset manager Ato Investment, but it is understood they changed the acquiring group to SBI Investment KOREA, which has Japanese capital backing.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 10th, KB Securities and UAMCO recently formed a consortium with SBI Investment KOREA to acquire PicosTech. The consortium has been granted exclusive priority negotiation rights to acquire PicosTech's management equity and is said to have begun raising funds from banks and other financial institutions.
The acquisition target is 100% of the management equity of PicosTech held by CEO Kim Hyung-jin and others, and the acquisition price was set at about 40 billion won. The consortium decided to acquire PicosTech using funds from a newly created project fund while also utilizing part of the blind fund jointly managed by KB Securities and UAMCO.
PicosTech was founded in 2006 by CEO Kim Hyung-jin, former researcher at the LG H&H research institute, as an ODM company specializing in the development and manufacture of basic cosmetics such as skin toners and lotions and functional cosmetics. It built its own factories and research and development (R&D) facilities in Anseong and Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, and recorded sales of 25 billion won and operating profit of 4.3 billion won last year.
KB Securities and UAMCO decided to acquire PicosTech's management after observing that demand for cosmetics manufacturing and development is likely to increase amid the global popularity of K-beauty. PicosTech's international certifications, such as the excellent cosmetics manufacturing and quality control standard (CGMP) certification and registration as a Japanese quasi-drug factory, are also cited as strengths.
At the end of last year, Ato Investment discovered management's intention to sell during the PicosTech investment process and brought KB Securities' PE New Business Headquarters and UAMCO into a joint acquisition group, but after Ato Investment ran into difficulties raising funds, the acquiring group was reportedly changed to SBI Investment KOREA.
Ato Investment is a new venture capital (VC) firm founded in 2023 by CEO Yoon Won-do, formerly head of strategic planning for the bio (BIO) division at CJ CheilJedang. Apart from participating as a sponsor in Yuanta 17 Special Purpose Acquisition Company, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) whose listed company debuted on the KOSDAQ market earlier this year, it is understood to have no other operating funds.
SBI Investment KOREA is a venture capital under Japan-based financial group SBI Holdings, and it is said to be highly regarded for its ability to raise funds from entities such as SBI Capital and SBI Savings Bank. Leveraging its PE division, SBI Investment KOREA jointly organized a 184 billion won blind fund with KB Securities last year.
Concerns about overvaluation are seen as an obstacle KB Securities, UAMCO and SBI Investment KOREA must overcome. PicosTech's cosmetics are limited to some products of brand companies Wellage and Dewytree. Although net income last year was only 3.9 billion won, the price tag was set at 40 billion won, exceeding a price-earnings ratio (PER) of 10.
When Dongkook Pharmaceutical acquired management rights of cosmetics ODM company Ribom Cosmetics at the end of last year, the PER multiple was around 14. However, Ribom Cosmetics not only produced Tirtir's ampoule product, which is hailed as a vanguard of K-beauty, but also secured about 150 K-beauty brands as clients, achieving steady sales growth.
A source in the IB industry said, "Despite the recent boom in K-beauty, PicosTech's performance weakened year on year last year, and it is evaluated as lagging behind competitors in competitiveness," and added, "How much funding SBI Investment KOREA can pull together appears likely to be the key variable that determines whether the transaction closes."
Meanwhile, the PicosTech acquisition consortium said regarding the change in the acquiring group, "There is nothing we can disclose."