Samsung's drug-manufacturing unit goes public
SEOUL - Samsung's drug-manufacturing unit made its stock market debut on Thursday, in one of South Korea's biggest ever share listings that raised nearly two billion dollars.
Shares in Samsung Biologics were trading at around 142,000 won ($123) on the Seoul stock market mid-morning, putting the firm's total value at nearly 9.0 trillion won.
The highly anticipated IPO is the second largest in South Korea's history, raising 2.25 trillion won ($1.96 billion) at its initial public offering (IPO) price of 136,000 won per share.
The sale came as the South Korean business giant seeks new engine for growth as global demand slows in its core mobile phone business.
The drug contract manufacturer was created in 2011 after Samsung Group announced a plan to invest 23 trillion won in healthcare and green energy over the next decade as "new engines for growth."
The proceeds from the share sales will be used to expand production capacity and to invest in research and development, Samsung Biologics has said.
The firm makes biopharmaceutical drugs for major firms including Bristol-Myers Squibb and Roche at plants west of Seoul.
It is jointly owned by the group's construction unit, Samsung C&T, and the flagship unit of Samsung Electronics, which together hold a 75 percent stake in Samsung Biologics even after the share sale.
The firm has been in the red for years with a net loss in 2015 standing at 75.7 billion won as it invested heavily in its two existing plants and a new facility slated to open two years later.