TKG Huchems Co. (069260.KS) and IMM Investment Group are set to become the controlling shareholders of KOSDAQ-listed biologics developer April Bio Co. (397030.KQ) after the company's board approved a KRW 346.8 billion (approximately USD 226 million) third-party allotment capital increase on June 25.
The transaction — structured in three tranches — marks a pivotal governance shift for the Chuncheon-based drug developer and signals TKG Group's ambition to build a biotech vertical alongside its existing footwear, chemicals, beauty, and hotel businesses.
Deal Structure: Three-Tranche Capital Raise
The KRW 346.8 billion capital increase is split across three components:
- KRW 141.8 billion in new common shares, allocated to IMM Asset Management and IMM Scale-up Bio No. 1 LLC
- KRW 50 billion in non-voting convertible preferred shares (CPS), allocated to the same IMM entities
- KRW 155 billion in voting CPS jointly allocated to TKG Huchems and IMM Startup Venture Fund No. 2
Upon closing, the TKG-IMM consortium will unseat founder and CEO Cha Sang-hoon — who previously held an 18.96% stake valued at approximately KRW 180.3 billion — as the company's largest shareholder. Cha is expected to remain in a technology leadership role for six years, continuing to oversee R&D strategy and development direction.
The transaction will lift April Bio's total cash position to approximately KRW 437 billion (around USD 284 million), which the company said will be deployed primarily for R&D expenditures. IMM Investment is establishing a dedicated vehicle — IMM Healthcare No. 8 Private Equity Fund — to hold its share of the position.
Platform Credentials: SAFA and REMAP Technologies
April Bio develops long-acting biologics using its proprietary SAFA platform, which extends the half-life of therapeutic proteins, and a newer REMAP multi-target antibody technology that allows a single biologic to act on multiple disease pathways simultaneously.
The company has already generated KRW 1.2 trillion in cumulative technology licensing revenue from two landmark out-licensing deals: the 2021 licensing of APB-A1 (thyroid eye disease) to Denmark's Lundbeck A/S and the 2024 licensing of APB-R3 (atopic dermatitis) to US biotech Evommune Inc.
These proven licensing transactions — targeting both rare diseases and prevalent inflammatory conditions — give the incoming investors a de-risked entry into a platform with demonstrated global commercial appeal.
Five-Year Blueprint
With the KRW 437 billion cash cushion now secured, April Bio has set an aggressive growth trajectory: a KRW 10 trillion market capitalization within three years and KRW 20 trillion (approximately USD 13 billion) within five years — representing a roughly 10-fold uplift from current levels.
For TKG Group, formerly known as Taekwang Industrial (태광산업), the deal represents the latest chapter in an ongoing conglomerate pivot. TKG Huchems (KOSPI: 069260.KS) is the group's listed chemicals arm, producing nitric acid, ammonium nitrate, and specialty chemicals. The April Bio stake diversifies the group's revenue streams into high-value biopharmaceuticals, following earlier expansions into beauty, hotels, and marine industries.
The move mirrors a pattern among second-tier Korean conglomerates — including Hanwha, Lotte, and HLB — of using strategic M&A to acquire platform-based biotech assets with proven licensing histories rather than building pipelines internally from scratch.
