Boryung is attracting industry attention by continuing its aggressive investment in the space healthcare business through large-scale fundraising. The company is making bold moves under the leadership of third-generation founder Kim Jung-kyun to expand its investment in the space business, raising concerns both internally and externally.
Boryung decided on a third-party allocation capital increase this month to raise approximately 175 billion won for operating funds. The newly issued shares are 18,097,207 common shares, with an issue price of 9,670 won per share. It plans to use 74.9 billion won of the funds raised through the capital increase for operating funds, and the remaining 50 billion won for facility funds.
The operating funds include the capital needed for the space business, led by CEO Kim. Regarding the capital increase plan, Boryung explained, “We plan to continue investing in the ‘Humans In Space’ project, which we have been promoting since 2022,” and added, “We aim to secure core infrastructure and capabilities related to space medicine for long-term human space habitation, thereby enhancing the company’s long-term competitiveness.”
Previously, in July this year, Boryung sold its headquarters building located in Wonnam-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, for 131.5 billion won. The headquarters, maintained for 47 years since 1977, is now leased back by Boryung Holdings under a sale-and-leaseback structure and used as an office building. Boryung is investing in new businesses, including CDMO (contract development and manufacturing organization), with the proceeds from the sale.
Boryung is particularly focusing on the space healthcare business, identified as a future growth engine, and is actively pursuing business diversification. Since the beginning of this year, CEO Kim has shown significant interest in space and has been expanding investments to enter the space medicine field.
Boryung significantly expanded its partnerships with foreign space agencies and companies at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) held in Milan, Italy, from Oct. 14 to 18. At this event, Boryung hosted the “Humans In Space (HIS) Challenge,” a space medicine idea competition, set up a booth, and sponsored the event.
The HIS Challenge focused on solving terrestrial medical problems using the space environment and addressing essential medical issues in spaceflight. Boryung plans to support the selected ideas by providing research funding and enabling experiments in space.
At this event, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) participated in the finals with teams like Scott Ritter’s team, which conducted research on vision changes related to spaceflight, and other teams with experience in space or microgravity experiments supported by foreign space agencies such as NASA, according to Boryung. The company plans to conduct separate equity investments in the companies selected through the final evaluation.
A domestic space industry official said, “Recently, Boryung sponsored the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Milan, set up an exhibition booth, and invited four astronauts, continuing its aggressive investments,” and added, “There are concerns that Boryung is making excessive investments influenced by foreign companies in a situation where it is still uncertain whether the space-related business will generate revenue or succeed.”
In 2022, Boryung invested $60 million (approximately 65 billion won) in Axiom Space, a U.S. space startup pursuing a private space station. This investment has led Boryung to expand various space projects. In 2022, Boryung launched the CIS project to address health issues that may arise from long-term human activities in microgravity space environments and conducted a space healthcare company incubation program. During this time, the company invested in eight healthcare startups, including Deep Space Biology, X-Tory, and Nano Pharma Solutions. In January this year, it established a joint venture, BraX Space with Axiom Space and continued its aggressive investments.
A pharmaceutical industry official said, “The CEO has a greater interest in space than in the core field of the pharmaceutical company, and his wife, Jang Yoon-hee (director of Boryung Humans In Space Youth), is also known to have a strong interest in space,” and added, “It is expected that Boryung will continue to invest in the space field to transition into space medicine.”
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