MBK Acquires 71.25% Stake Held by Blackstone
Joyeon Chosunhye, Founder of GeoYoung, Continues Management with Shareholding
MBK Partners is acquiring GeoYoung, a pharmaceutical distribution company valued at around 2 trillion won.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 22nd, MBK Partners recently signed a stock purchase agreement (SPA) with Blackstone for the acquisition of GeoYoung.
The acquisition target is 71.25% of the shares of GeoYoung's holding company, Joseon Hyeji WY Holdings, owned by Blackstone. GeoYoung founder Chairman Joseon Hye will remain with the company and continue management without selling his shares.
MBK Partners has valued GeoYoung at approximately 2 trillion won based on 100% equity.
GeoYoung was founded in 2002 by Chairman Lee Hee-gu, former head of sales at Daewoong Pharmaceutical, and Chairman Joseon Hye, former head of pharmacy at Incheon Hospital. The company grew by acquiring regionally fragmented pharmaceutical distributors nationwide, establishing a nationwide sales and distribution network. It was also the first pharmaceutical wholesaler to build a wide-area logistics facility.
Blackstone acquired the controlling stake in GeoYoung in 2019 from Anchor Equity Partners, valuing the entire company at 1.1 trillion won. While co-managing with Chairman Joseon, Blackstone continued a bolt-on strategy to increase company value, including a surprise acquisition of a 25% stake in Baekje Pharmaceuticals, the second-largest company in the same industry, in February last year. Upon completing the sale of GeoYoung, Blackstone will have nearly doubled its returns in five years.
GeoYoung posted consolidated group sales of 4.4386 trillion won last year, a 4.9% increase from the previous year (4.2295 trillion won). Operating profit rose 14% from 76.2 billion won in 2022 to 86.9 billion won. On a standalone basis, GeoYoung recorded sales of 3.0063 trillion won and operating profit of 67.2 billion won. GeoYoung is the first single legal entity in the domestic pharmaceutical and bio industry to surpass 3 trillion won in annual sales.
Meanwhile, MBK Partners has focused on the healthcare sector, acquiring the oral scanner solution company Medit (2.4 trillion won) and the implant company Osstem Implant (2.5 trillion won) consecutively last year.
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