이 기사는 2022년 01월 20일 08:08 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

An acquisition of South Korea’s No. 1 botox maker Hugel by a consortium led by GS Group appears close to completion with no changes to the original agreement.

The GS-led consortium signed a share purchase agreement to buy a controlling stake in Hugel from US buyout firm Bain Capital last summer. The transaction has not closed yet, although the deadline for the deal was January 11.

This raised speculation about potential renegotiations over a price, especially after the country’s food and drug agency ordered last November the revocation of licenses for some of the company’s botox products.

However, it appears that the GS consortium remains committed to acquiring Hugel regardless of the revocation issue.

“(The consortium) will pay the remaining acquisition costs soon,” said a source familiar with the deal. “Speculation about a potential price adjustment is not true and that’s highly unlikely.”

The GS consortium agreed to buy a 42.9% stake in Hugel for about 1.7 trillion won ($1.4 billion) in August last year. Around 1.3 trillion won of the total acquisition costs was already paid, while the balance remains to be paid.

The consortium consists of GS Group, Seoul-based private equity firm IMM Investment, Singapore-based healthcare-dedicated investment firm CBC Group and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala.

The consortium funded about 40% of the acquisition costs, or $575 million, through debt financing. Additionally, GS Group plans to pay $150 million by using its cash on hand, while IMM Investment will invest $150 million from its blind-pool fund. (Reporting by Ha-na Suh)