[Market Focus] HLB Group Shares Surge on Strategic Investment from Global Asset Manager

On November 4, shares of HLB Group are soaring across the board. Investor interest has surged after the group received a strategic investment from LMR Partners, a UK-based global asset management firm.

As of 9:18 a.m. on the same day, HLB was trading at 57,800 won, up 10,650 won (22.59%) from the previous trading day. At the same time, all group stocks were sharply rising: HLB Life Science (28.59%), HLB Pharmaceutical (26.51%), HLB Biostep (26.18%), HLB Therapeutics (22.24%), HLB Panagene (19.63%), and HLB Innovation (16.99%).

The previous day, HLB Group announced that LMR Partners, a UK-based global asset management firm, would make a strategic investment of 145 million US dollars (approximately 206.9 billion won) in the company.

The company stated, "Ahead of the resubmission for approval of HLB's liver cancer drug and the new drug application for its cholangiocarcinoma treatment, capital from an overseas asset management firm has been injected," adding, "This marks the beginning of full-scale collaboration with global capital."

LMR Partners is investing in HLB Group in US dollars, acquiring 140 million dollars worth of bonds with warrants (BW) in HLB and 5 million dollars worth of exchangeable bonds (EB) in HLB Life Science.

Of the total 140 million dollars secured by HLB, 15% will be immediately available as soon as the transaction is completed. The remaining 85% will be deposited in HLB's overseas escrow account and will be executed once the conditions for exercising the BW are met.

Meanwhile, on the same day, HLB Panagene announced that three types of molecular diagnostic reagents for infectious diseases had obtained CE IVDR (In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation) certification from the European Union, further boosting investor sentiment.

With this CE IVDR certification, HLB Panagene expects that its proprietary PNA (peptide nucleic acid)-based molecular diagnostic technology will gain international recognition, further enhancing its credibility in the global market.