CBC-led consortium acquires significant equity interest in Korea's largest medical aesthetics company

SEOUL, South Korea PRNewswire/ — A consortium led by CBC Group (“CBC”) announced today the signing of definitive agreements to acquire a 46.9% equity interest (the “Transaction”) in Hugel, Inc. (“Hugel”, 145020.KQ) from Bain Capital. The market capitalization of Hugel is approximately US$2.5 billion. Members of the consortium include CBC, Asia’s largest healthcare-dedicated investment firm headquartered in Singapore, Mubadala Investment Company (“Mubadala”), the Abu Dhabi-based investor, GS Holdings Corp. (“GS”), the leading business group in South Korea, ranked 7^th in total revenue and 8^th in total assets and IMM Investment Corp. (“IMM”), a leading investment firm based in Korea investing across alternative asset classes including growth equity, infrastructure, and venture capital.

Michael Keyoung, MD, PhD, Managing Director and Head of North America and Korea at CBC, said, “We are delighted to pursue this incredible opportunity in collaboration with our strategic partners from Mubadala, GS and IMM. This marks the beginning of CBC’s journey into the global medical aesthetics sector, in addition to our current pharma, medtech and services exposure. By leveraging our foothold in international markets, we are confident that Hugel as a Korea-based company will become a leading global aesthetics business by expanding significantly into the United States, Europe, China and the rest of the world.  CBC will continue to further develop its global healthcare portfolio with strong support from our global investors.”

Camilla Macapili Languille, Head of Life Sciences at Mubadala, said, “We are very excited about embarking on Hugel’s growth journey in partnership with CBC, GS and IMM. This opportunity cements Mubadala Life Sciences’ entry into Asia alongside our colleagues from the Mubadala’s China Investment Program team, who already have an established presence in China and a long-standing relationship with CBC. We will work closely with our consortium partners and leverage our network to support Hugel’s vision of becoming a leading global medical aesthetics company.”

Huh Tae-soo, Chairman of GS, said, “We are very pleased to partner with CBC, Mubadala and IMM in taking Hugel to the next level of growth by combining our respective expertise with the company’s well-positioned product offering and competitiveness in the global market. Embarking on this partnership underscores our intention to expand our business by diversifying our bio portfolio.”

Tim Chang, Chief Executive Officer of IMM, said, “We are delighted to partner with CBC, Mubadala, and GS to invest in Hugel, further strengthening our global footprint. With IMM’s past success in the healthcare sector, we are confident that we can help Hugel to grow beyond Korea to become a true global player.”

As CBC continues to build its presence in the Asian healthcare sector, this transaction marks its strategic entrance into the medical aesthetics sector, joining an industry-leading portfolio in the pharmaceuticals and biotech, medical technology and service sectors. Founded in 2014, CBC has consistently focused on control-oriented acquisitions and platform-building investments in leading Asian businesses. With its entrepreneurial vision and drive to build and transform healthcare businesses, CBC plays an active role in supporting its portfolio companies with the development of long-term and innovative growth strategies.

Established in 2001, Hugel is the No.1 leader in the botulinum toxin and hyaluronic acid fillers space in Korea and also develops, manufactures and distributes cosmeceutical products. In October 2020, its injectable type A botulinum toxin officially received marketing approval from the National Medical Products Administration of China, which made Hugel the fourth type A botulinum toxin product manufacturer approved for launch in China and the first of its kind from South Korea. In conjunction with this approval, Hugel expects to obtain marketing approvals in Europe and the United States in the next 12 months. 

Morgan Stanley is acting as the Consortium’s sole M&A advisor.

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About CBC

CBC Group, Asia’s largest healthcare-dedicated investment firm, commits to creating value and integrating global resources. In partnering with the world’s top entrepreneurs and scientists, our unique “investor-operator” approach has empowered global leading healthcare companies to widen access to affordable medical care, catalyze innovations, and improve efficiency in fulfilling unmet medical needs worldwide. Founded in 2014, CBC has a leading team of investment, industry and portfolio management professionals headquartered in Singapore with global offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong and New York, and presence in Boston, San Diego, San Francisco, and Tokyo. CBC focuses on platform-building, buyout, credit and growth-focused opportunities across multiple core areas within the healthcare sector, including pharmaceutical and biotech, medical technology and healthcare services. For more information, please visit www.cbridgecap.com 

About Mubadala

Mubadala Investment Company manages a global portfolio aimed at generating sustainable financial returns for the Government of Abu Dhabi. 

Mubadala’s US$243.4 billion (AED 894 billion) portfolio spans six continents with interests in multiple sectors and asset classes. Mubadala leverages deep sectoral expertise and long-standing partnerships to drive sustainable growth and profit, while supporting the continued diversification and global integration of the economy of the United Arab Emirates.

Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, Mubadala has offices in London, Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, New York, San Francisco and Beijing. For more information about Mubadala Investment Company, please visit: www.mubadala.com  

About GS

GS is comprised of GS Holdings and various subsidiaries and affiliates including GS Energy, GS Caltex, GS Retail, GS EPS, GS Global, GS E&R, GS Sports and GS E&C. GS is the 8th largest business group in Korea in terms of assets.

More than 36,000 employees from 80 affiliates work at 93 corporations and branches in 32 countries around the world. Its assets include the world's fourth largest single-site refinery, Korea’s largest private-sector power company by a capacity of 5.7 GW and Korea’s leading integrated online and offline commerce platform business.

As a leader in the fields of energy, retail, construction and service, GS has set its vision of “Value No.1 GS” on the basis of the management philosophy of “Creating new values in life and dreaming of a better future for our customers.” and the shared values of Customer Satisfaction, Life Solution, Rewarding Workplace, Respect, Passion and Energy. With this goal, all employees shall act as guides to enhance people’s lives by providing products and services that are comfortable and convenient.

For more Information, please visit  www.gs.co.kr 

About IMM

IMM is one of the leading Korean domestic investment firms with USD 4.7bn AUM. Since its inception in 1999, the firm has expanded its investment products from Venture Capital to Growth Private Equity and Infrastructure. More recently, the firm has expanded globally and is growing to become the Asian leading investment firm, with its affiliates in Japan and Hong Kong, such as IMM Investment Group Japan, ICA Group, and IMM Investment Global, and its investments in Japan, China, Vietnam, and the United States.

IMM is one of the strongest Venture Capital, Growth Equity and infrastructure investment firms in Korea, having invested in six of Korea’s nationally developed “Unicorn” companies. Its successful portfolios include Coupang, Krafton, Celltrion, Musinsa, EMKH, and Hyundai Pusan New Port.

For further information, please visit  www.imm.co.kr 

For media enquiries, please contact:
CBC: cbcpr@cbridgecap.com , +86 21 8012 3200
Mubadala: Ollie.Lawson@edelman.com , +971 56 524 8148
GS: kimsw@gs.co.kr , +82 2 2005 8102
IMM: jcy@imm.co.kr , +82 2 2112 1826

© Press Release 2021