SEOUL, – South Korea’s major pharmaceutical firm Celltrion Inc. said Friday it will decide on its plan to merge with its sales and marketing affiliate, Celltrion Healthcare Co., next week.
It will hold a shareholders meeting Monday to make a decision on the merger, according to the company’s regulatory filing.
An on-going online vote for those who cannot attend the on-site meeting will close Sunday, it added.
Celltrion Healthcare also said its stakeholders meeting will be held on the same day.
If the merger plan is approved Monday, the two companies are expected to be fully integrated on Dec. 28, and shares of the new company will be available for purchase starting on Jan. 12 next year.
In August, the company announced its plan to integrate the group’s three listed firms — Celltrion, Celltrion Healthcare and Celltrion Pharm Inc. — in a bid to strengthen its cost competitiveness and diversify its pipeline to become a global drugmaker that produces biosimilars and new drugs.
Celltrion has said it plans to first integrate with Celltrion Healthcare and later merge with its chemical pharmaceutical affiliate.
Celltrion is the 15th-largest company on the main KOSPI bourse in terms of market capitalization worth about 20.7 trillion won (US$15.2 billion).
Source: Yonhap News Agency