U.S.-based biopharmaceutical company Biogen has announced that it has exercised its option to purchase additional shares of South Korean Samsung Bioepis, a joint venture established in 2012 by technology major Samsung BioLogics and Biogen.
Under the terms of the 2012 joint venture agreement, Biogen will pay Samsung BioLogics approximately $700 million for the option shares, increasing Biogen’s ownership in Samsung Bioepis from approximately 5.4 percent to approximately 49.9 percent
Biogen said that exercising the option is an opportunity to create meaningful value for its shareholders and added that the deal allows it to increase its ownership share in a leading biosimilar company.
The completion of this share purchase is subject to certain regulatory closing conditions and is expected to close in the second half of 2018. The exact share purchase price will depend on the timing of the closing and foreign currency exchange rates at that time.