[Edaily Reporter KIM SAE-MI ] AprilBio Co.,Ltd.(397030)has welcomed TKG Huchems, an affiliate of the TKG Group, as its new controlling shareholder and has entered a phase of expanding its research and development (R&D) capabilities backed by capital from a major conglomerate. The company plans to use the 3468억원 investment to accelerate the advancement of its SAFA and REMAP platforms and the parallel development of its multimodal pipeline.

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8 Billion Won in Common Stock, 205.0 Billion Won in CPS… Total Capital Increase of 346.8 Billion Won

According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system on the 26th, AprilBio Co.,Ltd. is proceeding with a third-party private placement totaling 346.8 billion won, targeting TKG Huchems, IMM Asset Management, and funds affiliated with IMM Investment.

The third-party private placement disclosed the previous day is understood to be worth 1418억, targeting IMM Asset Management and IMM Scale-Up Bio No. 1 Limited Company. The company will issue 409만5456 shares of common stock at 3만4620 won per share, with no discount or premium applied relative to the reference share price.

The structure of the convertible preferred stock (CPS) issuance was also disclosed in an additional filing released today. The previous day’s capital increase announcement stated that the third-party allocation recipients had each entered into share purchase agreements with the existing largest shareholder, leading to expectations of an announcement regarding the sale of existing shares; however, it was confirmed that this is an agreement to transfer management control through the issuance of new shares.

TKG Huchems and IMM Startup Venture Fund No. 2 will acquire voting CPS worth 155 billion won. Of this amount, TKG Huchems’ portion consists of 3,492,189 shares, valued at approximately 150 billion won. The issue price and conversion price were set at 42,953 won per share, representing a 24.07% premium over the reference share price.

Separately, IMM Asset Management and IMM Scale-Up Bio Fund No. 1 will acquire non-voting CPS worth 50 billion won. The issue price and conversion price for these CPS are 40,908 won per share, representing an 18.16% premium over the benchmark share price.

TKG Huchems Secures Controlling Stake… CEO Cha Sang-hoon to Continue Leading Technology Management

The largest shareholder of TKG Huchems participating in this rights offering is T. K. CORPORATION, an affiliate of a separate group from TaekwangIndustrial. The TKG Group is a global footwear manufacturing conglomerate founded by the late Chairman Park Yeon-cha. T. K. CORPORATION has grown into an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) and ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) company that supplies footwear to global sports brands such as Nike. It has since expanded its business into fine chemicals, building materials, and other materials. With this investment, the group is expanding its portfolio to include biotech companies focused on new drug development.

CEO Cha Sang-hoon, the founder and largest shareholder, will continue to lead technology management, overseeing R&D and technology strategy for the next six years. TKG Group will provide capital and management infrastructure. IMM Investment Group will participate as an operational partner, supporting global networking, business development, and technology transfer.

TKG Group holds a call option on the shares acquired by IMM, and these shares are scheduled to be transferred to TKG Group in stages over the next five years. Therefore, the company explained that the overhang burden resulting from the sale of IMM’s shares on the open market will be limited. However, specific details regarding the exercise price, timing, and conditions of the call option are not currently disclosed in public filings.

AprilBio Co.,Ltd. plans to allocate all funds secured through this rights offering to research and development (R&D). By attracting a total investment of 3468억 won, combined with its existing cash reserves, the company has secured liquidity of approximately 4370억 won or more. Observers note that this has significantly strengthened the company’s R&D capabilities by providing a substantial cash reserve—a rare feat for a domestic biotech firm.

Leveraging its abundant financial resources, AprilBio Co.,Ltd. plans to evolve REMAP—based on the SAFA platform—into a conjugation platform that combines not only antibodies and peptides but also △ antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), △ short interfering RNA (siRNA), and △ antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates (AOCs). The company envisions shifting from its existing focus on autoimmune diseases to targeting cancer and new diseases, and transitioning to a system of parallel development across multiple pipelines.

Following LigaChem Biosciences, AprilBio Co.,Ltd.… Major Corporations Invest in Platform Biotechs

The biotech industry is taking note of the fact that platform-based biotech companies are attracting the attention of large corporations, as AprilBio Co.,Ltd. follows in the footsteps of LigaChem Biosciences in securing investment from major corporations. AprilBio Co.,Ltd. also stated, “Unlike typical new drug development companies whose success depends on a single pipeline, our scalability as a platform company capable of repeatedly applying our technology to various therapeutic compounds served as the foundation for this large-scale funding round.”

AprilBio Co.,Ltd. attributed TKG Group and IMM Investment Group’s decision to invest to the proven technological capabilities of its SAFA platform. AprilBio Co.,Ltd. achieved technology transfer deals totaling 1.2 trillion won by licensing “APB-A1” to Lundbeck in Denmark in 2021 and “APB-R3” to Evomune in the U.S. in 2024. Since then, the licensed pipelines have entered global clinical trials, accumulating pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) data.

It will be interesting to see how much AprilBio Co.,Ltd.’s enterprise value will rise as a result of this development. As of the 25th, AprilBio Co.,Ltd.’s market capitalization stood at 9014억원. Looking at the case of LigaChem Biosciences(141080), which previously received investment from a major conglomerate, its market cap—which was 1조5600억원 in January 2024 when ORION’s acquisition of a controlling stake was announced—had grown to 5조6500억원 as of the 24th, approximately 2 years and 5 months later, marking a 3.6-fold increase.

A biotech industry official noted, “While there was demand for large corporations to enter the biotech sector, the risks associated with new drug development are so significant that interest naturally shifted toward new drug development companies with platform technologies,” adding, “For AprilBio Co.,Ltd., the key will be how quickly it can demonstrate the scalability of SAFA and REMAP with additional data.”