The bio company SillaJen is pursuing the acquisition of WOOSUNG Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Corentec, a joint replacement manufacturing company. This comes two years after Corentec acquired WOOSUNG Pharmaceutical in 2023.
An investment bank (IB) official familiar with SillaJen's internal circumstances noted, "SillaJen has been pushing for mergers and acquisitions to secure a cash cow (revenue source)." They added, "While I cannot disclose the acquisition price or timing of the contract, I understand that a decision has been made internally to acquire WOOSUNG Pharmaceutical," on the 11th.
WOOSUNG Pharmaceutical sells four products for relieving fever and pain. It is also developing non-oral nutritional supplements, antibiotics, anticancer adjuvants, analgesics, and arthritis treatments. According to a report disclosed by Corentec last year, WOOSUNG's sales for 2023 are estimated at 5.6 billion won. At the time of acquiring WOOSUNG Pharmaceutical, Corentec purchased 2,304,000 shares, or 80% of the equity held by CEO Cho Hwan-woo, for 7.2 billion won.
The acquisition effort is reportedly being led by SillaJen's largest shareholder, M2N. CEO Seo Hong-min of M2N is the brother-in-law of Kim Seung-yeon, chairman of Hanwha Group, and he also serves as the chairman of The LEADCORP. Last year, rumors circulated in the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market that SillaJen was looking for small pharmaceutical and healthcare companies to acquire.
Corentec, which is selling WOOSUNG Pharmaceutical, also has ties to a chaebol group. Corentec was founded in 2000 by Sun Du-hoon, who was an orthopedic professor at the Catholic University of Korea's Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital. Sun Du-hoon is the husband of Jeong Sung-i, a director at INNOCEAN, and the eldest daughter of Chung Mong-koo, the honorary chairman of Hyundai Motor Group. Sun established Corentec to create orthopedic artificial joints, having gained fame in the field of hip joint surgery.