NAVER will acquire 8.5% equity in InBody, known for its body composition analyzers, becoming the fourth-largest shareholder. As NAVER has continued investing in healthcare corporations for future growth engines, it is expected to pursue business collaboration with InBody as well.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's Data Analysis, Retrieval and Transfer System (DART) on the 30th, InBody decided to sell 1,145,875 of its 1,288,627 treasury shares to NAVER via an after-hours block deal. The per-share transaction price was set at 28,350 won, reflecting a 2.7% discount to InBody's closing price on the 29th. With this transaction, NAVER will secure 8.5% equity in InBody, and InBody will receive 32.5 billion won in cash.
InBody's largest shareholder is CEO Cha Ki-cheol (18.14% equity), followed by his son, Planning and Coordination Office Executive Director Cha In-jun (9.79%), and Fidelity Management & Research Company (9.99%) as major shareholders. With this transaction, NAVER will become InBody's fourth-largest shareholder by equity stake.
InBody said the purpose of selling treasury shares was "to strengthen global healthcare business cooperation." An InBody official said, "This is not for simple investment; we plan to pursue collaboration with NAVER in relation to the healthcare business currently underway at InBody."
This is NAVER's second purchase of healthcare equity. Narrowed to listed companies, it is the first. In Aug., NAVER decided to invest equity in the unlisted JNP Medi. JNP Medi is a corporations that provides a clinical trial data platform to pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device corporations using artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
NAVER counts healthcare as one of its future growth engines. Of the 118 startups invested in through NAVER's startup investment arm D2SF, healthcare startups make up the largest share at 18%.
This is seen as due to the many areas that can be combined with AI technology. Healthcare startups backed by NAVER include ◇ AI sleep tech PranaQ, ▲ AI diet nutrition analysis Nuvi Lab, and ▲ medical AI Monitor Corporation. InBody is also said to have been exploring ways to strengthen new AI businesses internally.
InBody and NAVER also plan to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) this week. A NAVER official said, "NAVER decided to invest, noting InBody's unrivaled global business and growth potential in the field of body composition testing products."
However, some investors who had expected InBody to cancel its treasury shares moved to "sell." InBody shares traded at 27,100 won on the KOSDAQ market at 1:57 p.m. that day, down 7.03% (2,050 won) from the previous day.