Seo Jeong-jin, chairman of Celltrion Group, holds an online meeting with investors from 4:00 pm on the 24th and shares the merger plan. /youtube capture
Celltrion Group Chairman Seo Jeong-jin announced on the 24th, “After the merger between Celltrion (068270 KQ) and Celltrion Healthcare (091990 KQ) is over, we will promote the second phase of the merger within six months and then we will list Celltrion Holdings.”
He said this at an online meeting held for investors of the Celltrion Group from 4:00 pm on the same day. About 3200 people attended the meeting.
At the meeting, Chairman Seo shared plans for a merger between Celltrion, Celltrion Healthcare, and Celltrion Pharmaceuticals, the three core companies of the Celltrion Group, and then answered questions from investors directly. Most of the investor questions were related to stock prices.
After the announcement of the plan to merge affiliates on the 17th, Celltrion and Celltrion’s stock prices also rose on the next day, the 18th, but continued to decline for three consecutive trading days from the 21st to the 23rd, giving back all the gains. On this day, it closed at 144,600 won, up 2.19% (3,100 won) from the previous day.
When asked about the ‘plan to buy stocks of executives’ to boost stock prices, Chairman Seo said, “After the merger, if holdings are needed, I will consider going public.” I will come out,” he replied. Then, he said, “If I have surplus funds (through listing), I will boldly increase my shareholding ratio.” We will continue to increase our stake,” he added. It is known that this is the first time that he has announced plans to list Celltrion Holdings in public.
Celltrion Holdings is the holding company of Celltrion Group. It controls Celltrion, Celltrion Healthcare, and Celltrion Pharmaceuticals, the so-called ‘Celltrion 3 brothers’. Chairman Seo is the largest shareholder with a 98% stake in Celltrion Holdings.
Celltrion Group is in the process of merging three affiliates. Celltrion and Celltrion Healthcare held a board of directors meeting on the 17th and resolved the agenda to launch a merged corporation by absorbing and merging Celltrion with Celltrion Healthcare. After completing the merger process of the two companies within this year, they plan to merge Celltrion Pharmaceuticals within six months.
If Celltrion merges with Celltrion Healthcare as planned, Celltrion Holdings will own a 21.5% stake in the merged corporation. In addition, the combined corporation will secure a 54.8% stake in Celltrion Pharm. Chairman Seo’s stake in the integrated corporation is 3.7%.
Some shareholders even demanded replacements of some of Celltrion’s executives, citing sluggish stock prices. In response, Chairman Seo was angry, saying, “No matter how much a shareholder is, asking such a question in public is serious.”
Finally, he said, “It is a subjective factor, but (stock price) is undervalued,” and “I will confidently show progress in the future. Please understand even if you are upset in the short term.” He added, “After the merger is over, we will go public on holdings and secure more of our shares if we have surplus funds.”
2023-08-24 09:21:00
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