Lunit Aiming for US Market, Passes Critical Stage in Acquiring Volpara

Medical AI company Lunit announced on the 13th that it recently obtained preliminary approval from the New Zealand High Court for its plan to acquire Volpara Health Technologies.

[Photo by Lunit]

The New Zealand court conducts corporate acquisition approval procedures in two stages: first and second approvals. This first approval allows Volpara to hold a shareholders' meeting and conduct a sale vote on Lunit's acquisition proposal. The company explained, "The second approval is a formal review of the validity and legitimacy of the shareholders' meeting results," adding, "Following last month's approval of the acquisition investment by New Zealand financial authorities, this first court approval means we have effectively passed all legal procedures."

Volpara, founded in 2009 in Wellington, New Zealand, is an AI platform company specializing in breast cancer screening. It supplies breast cancer screening solutions to over 2,000 medical institutions in the United States. Last year, it recorded sales of 35 million New Zealand dollars (approximately 28.2 billion KRW), a 34% increase compared to the previous year. Lunit plans to focus on enhancing existing products and developing future products through the acquisition of Volpara.

Volpara is scheduled to hold a shareholders' meeting on the 12th of next month to address the matter. Approval requires more than 75% of voting rights in favor. Lunit CEO Bumseok Seo stated at the time of the acquisition announcement in December last year, "Currently, institutional and individual investors holding about 30% have expressed support for the merger approval," and added, "Other institutional and individual investors are also expected to approve smoothly since a stock price premium was guaranteed." The acquisition price set by Lunit for Volpara is 193.07 million Australian dollars (approximately 252.5 billion KRW). This price, at 1.15 Australian dollars (about 1,000 KRW) per share, represents a 47% premium over the then stock price of 0.78 Australian dollars.

CEO Seo said, "This acquisition captures two goals: securing a vast amount of data to build a super-large AI platform and securing sales in the world's largest medical market, the United States," adding, "Since funding for the acquisition is progressing smoothly, we expect to complete the acquisition by May."