[M&A News] CHA Bio Group to Acquire Kakao Healthcare

CHA Bio Group is securing management control of Kakao Healthcare through an investment of approximately KRW 80 billion.

The transaction is conducted as a cross-share swap in which CHA Bio Group acquires shares of Kakao Healthcare, a subsidiary of Kakao, and Kakao acquires shares of CHA Biotech.

1. About CHA Bio Group

   
   

CHA Bio Group, widely known for “CHA Medical Center,” is a bio–healthcare company that operates hospital, research, and biotechnology businesses.

The group has subsidiaries in various sectors, including medical services, bio research, and digital healthcare.

It operates 77 medical service platforms in six countries— the United States, Australia, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, and Vietnam—forming a global medical network.

2. How Will the Share Swap Be Structured?

CHA CARE and CHA AI Healthcare, subsidiaries of CHA Biotech, secure management control of Kakao Healthcare through share purchases and participation in a paid-in capital increase totaling KRW 80 billion.

Specifically, CHA CARE and CHA AI Healthcare acquire approximately KRW 70 billion of Kakao Healthcare shares, and CHA AI Healthcare makes an additional investment of KRW 10 billion.

Kakao will use KRW 30 billion of the KRW 70 billion secured through this process to acquire shares of CHA Biotech and reinvest the remaining KRW 40 billion into Kakao Healthcare.

Kakao Healthcare plans to raise an additional KRW 50 billion through external investment.

3. Final Shareholding Structure of Kakao Healthcare

Upon completion of the transaction, the shareholding structure is expected to be:

• CHA CARE & CHA AI Healthcare: 43.08%

• Kakao: 29.99%

• External investors: 26.93%

4. What’s next?

Through this equity swap, CHA Bio Group is reported to plan to link Kakao Healthcare’s digital healthcare technologies—including the mobile health management solution “PASTA”, the healthcare data services “HRS” and “Haycorn”, and the hospital concierge service “Karechat”—with the group’s global medical network to strengthen related services.

Based on this, CHA Bio Group is reported to plan to expand its digital healthcare business, including smart healthcare and data-based medical services.

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