JW Pharmaceutical buys group's VC arm Solidus for $22M
What's the deal? JW PharmaceuticalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → will acquire a 100% stake in Solidus InvestmentDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the corporate venture capital arm of South Korea's JW group, for US$25.7M. The move shifts Solidus from holding company JW HoldingsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to JW Pharmaceutical, the group's main operating business, according to a September 29 regulatory filing.
Why now? The deal follows JW Holdings' removal from holding company status under the Fair Trade Act in June. Under the law, a general holding company cannot own a corporate venture capital firm as a second-tier subsidiary; the reclassification freed the group to restructure.
What's the endgame? JW Pharmaceutical wants to tie Solidus' biotech investment work more closely to its own research and business development. A group official called it "a strategic decision to link Solidus' specialized investment capabilities in the biotech field more closely with our research and development and business development capabilities." (Translated from Korean.)
The company said the deal is meant to accelerate open innovation and secure new growth drivers, complementing in-house research and, over the medium to long term, broadening its new drug pipeline. JW Holdings had itself acquired Solidus for US$25.7M in March.
The signal: Bringing a corporate venture arm directly under the drug-making unit reflects how pharma groups are treating strategic investment as an extension of R&D rather than a financial sideline. For JW, the reshuffle turns a regulatory change into a chance to pull dealmaking closer to the lab.
Read more: en.sedaily.com
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