French private equity firm Archimed SAS, managing around €7 billion ($7.5 billion) in assets as of end-May, plans to secure a controlling stake in South Korean aesthetic laser maker Jeisys Medical Inc., which has 977.9 billion won ($710.8 million) in market cap as of June 10, and delist it from the junior bourse Kosdaq.
The French PE, via its Korean entity Syracuse Subco Inc., aims to buy a 72% stake in Jeisys or 55.7 million common shares from June 10 to July 22, according to the medical device maker’s regulatory filing on Monday.
Jeisys’ stock soared 19.6% to finish at 12,760 won on Monday, nearing the offer price of 13,000 won.
Archimed plans to acquire all shares on the public bid if those on sale are a 28.3% stake or above. If the stake for sale is below the percentage, the PE firm will cancel the acquisition, according to the disclosure.
The Lyon-based PE has also signed an agreement to buy a 23.2% stake in Jeisys from founder and top shareholder Kang Dong-hwan and a 3.2% stake from Lee Myung-hoon, a board director who held 4.9% as of March 31. The purchase price per share is the same as the tender offer price.
The agreement with the two executives is also under the condition that the shares on the public bid should be at least a 28.3% stake. If not, the contract won’t be fulfilled.
Archimed aims to hold 98.4% of Jeisys through the deals and delist the aesthetic device manufacturer from the Kosdaq. A shareholder with a 95% stake or more can delist the company without other investors’ consent under Korea’s Commercial Act.
Founder Kang plans to reinvest capital in Jeisys and participate in the company management after the equity sale. He will operate or designate who will manage Jeisys’ stem cell skincare product subsidiary Sacci Bio and the laser manufacturer’s ultrasound cancer treatment division.
Established in 2004, the aesthetic laser maker posted 8.9 billion won in operating profit and 7 billion won in net profit during the first quarter of this year on a consolidated basis, respectively up 16.4% and 5.2% from a year earlier.
Its sales for the first quarter reached 44 billion won, increasing 51.2% from the same period of last year.
Write to Jong-Kwan Park at pjk@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.
