Biotech drugs maker Samsung BioLogics IPO expected to raise $2 billion in South Korea

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  04 Oct 2016 , 12:21

Samsung BioLogics Co Ltd, a contract manufacturer of biotech drugs for global pharmaceutical firms, said on Tuesday its initial public offering is expected to raise as much as $2 billion in what is set to be South Korea’s third-largest IPO. The listing is aimed at helping fund an ambitious expansion in production capacity to make it the world’s largest contract manufacturer.

The offering of about 17 percent of the company is expected to consist of a new share issue of 11 million shares and the sale of 5.5 million existing shares by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. With an indicative pricing range of 113,000 won-136,000 won per share, the offering is expected to raise 2.25 trillion won ($2 billion). BioLogics said 780 billion won of the proceeds will be used for factory investment, while another 400 billion won will be invested in biosimilar drug developer unit Samsung Bioepis.

Samsung Electronics is the second-largest shareholder in BioLogics after Samsung C&T Corp, the de facto holding company for the Samsung Group. C&T and related shareholders will own 74.93 percent of the company after the listing. BioLogics expects to announce final pricing for the IPO on Oct. 28. This comes after Samsung electronics resumed the sale of ‘safe’ Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones.

With inputs from Reuters

Avast may further look to expand business after AVG integration says CEO

#AVAST

  01 Oct 2016 , 11:47

Avast Software, maker of the world’s most popular computer antivirus program, will need a year to absorb its $1.3 billion buy of rival AVG but may seek further acquisitions before an expected flotation, its chief executive said in an interview. Prague-based Avast closed its purchase on Friday of AVG Technologies, another software firm with Czech roots specializing in consumer security.

The combined company will have over 400 million users and 40 percent of the consumer computer market outside of China. While Avast will delist AVG shares, it has its own plans to eventually offer shares, maybe as soon as 2019. Before that, it must fully integrate AVG and will then look at mid-tier acquisitions for its push into mobile and, possibly, to expand its small- and medium-sized business offering.

“We have to digest AVG first and that is going to take us pretty much all of 2017 to really integrate. Then we will look at expanding the business after that,” Avast CEO Vincent Steckler said. “If we do something else to bulk up the company it would be substantive and I expect it would be in the hundreds (of millions of dollars).” Avast had long sought to tie up with AVG, which also started around 25 years ago as then-Czechoslovakia shifted to free markets after decades of communism.

The new Avast, which will still offer both brands, will have combined revenue of more than $700 million in 2016. The bulk of that will come from its consumer products, but it wants to grow its income from the mobile and business sectors. The tie-up, the biggest deal in company history, will give Avast heft to compete with the likes of Microsoft or McAfee, part of Intel Security.

Steckler said the company would avoid recognizable names when it seeks acquisitions in future but said potential targets would be bigger than start-ups. He said future deals would look at growing the company’s mobile business outside the United States, where it already has a good presence. On the business side, it could concentrate on adding network security solutions.

Reuters