Shares of Celltrion Healthcare, the distribution arm of South Korea’s major biosimilar developer Celltrion, have been battered by concerns of oversupply on news that JP Morgan-owned private equity firm One Equity Partners was cashing out on a 4.5 percent stake in the Kosdaq heavyweight through an after-hour block deal.

According to banking sources, UBS Securities on Monday tapped institutional demand on 6.5 million shares offering by One Equity Partners at a discount of 5.1 percent to 8 percent from Monday’s closing rate of 65,300 won ($54.73). The deal, the fund’s second divestiture in less than a year, would be worth between 390.5 billion won and 401.5 billion won.

The fund sold off about 400 billion won at an 8 percent discount in September last year. It owned a 15.02 percent stake in the company as of March this year and will remain the second largest stakeholder in the company with more than a 10 percent stake after the second block sale.

Celltrion Healthcare’s stocks finished Tuesday 9.65 percent lower at 59,000 won. Its shares peaked above 111,000 won in June last year and have been on a downward spiral since then.

Celltrion Healthcare’s consolidated operating profit for the first three months rose 11 percent on year to 9.4 billion won on sales of 220.5 billion won, up 72 percent during the same period. It is expected to do better in the coming months, helped by the launch of Remsima SC, the autoimmune disease therapeutic antibody biosimilar of infliximab, in Europe in the second half of this year.

By Kang Woo-seok and Lee Ha-yeon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]