Sovereign wealth funds Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) has set up a domestic bio corporations investment platform worth more than $200 million. It is structured to invest directly in bio corporations expanding overseas, and is seen as KIC's first move to support domestic corporations after focusing on overseas asset investment as a foreign-currency asset management specialist.
On the 23rd, KIC said it created a "bio research and development (R&D) investment platform" to help domestic bio corporations expand globally. The total size is $230 million (about 350 billion won), and Singapore-based bio and healthcare specialist manager CBC Group joined as a co-manager.
KIC alone invested $150 million (about 226 billion won). As both a limited partner and the platform operator responsible for sourcing portfolio corporations, it plans to assume all operating roles, while CBC Group will take on the role of expanding networks, including linking domestic biotechs entering overseas markets with local pharmaceutical companies.
The analysis is that KIC, a sovereign wealth funds, chose to build a platform as a channel to support domestic corporations. KIC had only made overseas asset investments because it must manage entrusted assets solely in foreign-currency-denominated assets, but in 2023 it changed its guidelines to allow investment in overseas subsidiaries of domestic corporations.
In practice, KIC plans to invest through the bio R&D investment platform in domestic bio corporations pursuing overseas expansion. In particular, it set as a core strategy making strategic investments to secure major shareholder status when establishing overseas entities, with the aim of building a foundation for long-term revenue generation.
President Park Il-young said, "The creation of the platform is meaningful in that it created a practical opportunity for domestic corporations to take a step up in the global market," and added, "We will continue to seek investment opportunities that enhance the competitiveness of global managers and domestic corporations and maximize synergy."
Meanwhile, in 2024 KIC created a strategic investment team dedicated to investing in overseas subsidiaries of domestic corporations, and last year expanded and reorganized it into the Strategic Investment Office. In addition, it selected IMM Investment and Dominus Investment as domestic external managers dedicated to overseas investment and committed about 600 billion won.