By Kwanwoo Jun


SK Bioscience shares surged as traders cheered the company's plan to acquire a German contract-manufacturing organization.

Shares of the South Korean vaccine developer rose as much as 20% to 59,200 won ($42.46) in early Thursday trading, on course for their sharpest daily percentage gain in nearly two years. The benchmark Kospi was down 0.8%.

SK Bioscience said earlier Thursday that its board decided to buy a controlling 60% stake in IDT Biologika, a member of German pharmaceutical conglomerate Klocke Group, for about KRW339.00 billion.

SK Bioscience values IDT Biologika, one of the top 10 global vaccine contract manufacturers, at KRW656.00 billion.

The South Korean company said it will secure managerial rights to run IDT Biologika after the stake purchase, but will still cooperate with Klocke, which will retain a 40% stake in the German contract manufacturer.

Separately, Klocke will invest KRW76.00 billion to buy a 1.9% stake in SK Bioscience.

"The cross-equity acquisition of the two companies is intended to build a close partnership based on trust in business performance and growth potential," SK Bioscience said in a statement.

SK Bioscience expects the deal to double its revenue, secure advanced manufacturing capabilities and expand its client base in Europe and the U.S.


Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-26-24 2227ET