À̹ÌÁö È®´ë Global private equity firm Bain Capital has bought a controlling 60.84 percent stake in South Korea¡¯s medical aesthetic device maker Classys Inc. for 669.9 billion won ($553.2 million), its third investment in a Korean healthcare company after Carver Korea and Hugel.
According to its disclosure on Tuesday, Bain Capital finalized a deal to own a 60.84 percent stake, or 39,407,057 common shares, in Kosaq-listed Classys at 669.9 billion won via BCPE Centur Investments. It paid 354.9 billion won through the fund, and Samsung Securities and KEB Hana Bank arranged the remaining 315 billion won financing for the purchase.
Classys shares rose 3.36 percent to close at 23,050 won in Seoul trading on Wednesday after losing 1.33 percent in the previous session. It commands a market cap of 1.49 trillion won, the largest among all companies who debuted on the stock market through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company.
Bain Capital with a great wealth of investment experience plans to enhance the corporate value of Classys with great growth potential in overseas markets. The PEF has successfully cashed out on its earlier investments in Korean healthcare companies with the sale of Carver Korea, known for cosmetics brand AHC, to global consumer goods giant Unilever and Korea¡¯s largest botulinum toxin maker Hugel to GS Group¡¯s consortium.
Classys manufactures and sells medical aesthetic devices and equipment with its brand ¡®Classys¡¯ for hospitals, ¡®Cluederm¡¯ for aesthetic clinics, and ¡®Skederm¡¯ for personal beauty equipment and cosmetics. Its flagship device Shurink, known as Ultraformer III outside Korea, which provides non-surgical and painless face lifting, wrinkle reduction and body contouring, has fast penetrated into the Korean aesthetic market and popularized face lifting.
Jung Sung-jae, founder and ex-CEO of Classys, will remain as a favorable shareholder with 9.93 percent. He will be barred from selling his holdings before Bain Capital¡¯s cash-out on its investment.
By Kang Woo-seok and Lee Ha-yeon
[¨Ï Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]