This article was published on June 23, 2025, at 4:56 p.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site.
Domestic private equity fund (PEF) management company Quintessa Investment is reviewing an acquisition of convertible bonds (CB) worth 150 billion won that Medytox will issue. Medytox is a company that manufactures botulinum toxin (commonly known as Botox). It is referred to as one of the 'three botulinum toxin companies' along with Daewoong Pharmaceutical and HUGEL.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 23rd, Quintessa Investment is seeking funding to acquire Medytox's CBs. With the estimation that it has exhausted all funds from its 7th blind fund, worth 75.1 billion won, created in 2021, it is likely to establish a project fund and invest.
It is reported that Medytox plans to use some of the investment to repay redeemable convertible preferred stock (RCPS). In 2021, Medytox issued RCPS worth 65 billion won from Dominus Investment, a PEF management company.
In addition, it is known that the investment will also be used for the establishment of a new factory in the U.S. and expenses related to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals. Medytox has three botulinum toxin and filler production facilities located in Osong-eup and Ochang-eup, Chungbuk.
Medytox applied for product approval for its non-animal liquid botulinum toxin formulation 'MT10109L' to the U.S. FDA in December 2023. However, the approval examination was rejected in February 2024 due to inadequate specific validation test reports. The company plans to resubmit its application to the FDA in the second half of 2025 after addressing the consultation items.
Medytox has partially resolved the legal risks that had constrained it for a long time. In March, Medytox won a final victory in an administrative lawsuit against the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, which had issued a cancellation of approval and a stop manufacturing and sales order for producing the botulinum toxin product 'Medytoxin' using unapproved raw materials.
Its performance is also improving. In the first quarter of this year, it recorded 64 billion won in sales, achieving the largest quarterly performance in its history. Operating profit reached 5.5 billion won. Securities firms estimate that Medytox's sales for the second quarter will increase by 17% year-on-year to 64 billion won, while operating profit is expected to decrease by 3.4% to 13.8 billion won.
Shin Min-soo, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, noted, 'The legal expenses that were a major obstacle to profits are expected to return to normal from the second quarter, reducing to about 5 billion to 6 billion won per quarter,' adding that 'the outstanding growth that was prominent in the first quarter is likely to continue.'
Quintessa Investment has primarily invested in companies related to cosmetics and medical aesthetics. Recently, it sold GDK Cosmetics, which it acquired along with JKL Partners and Heimdal PE, to SOLUM Healthcare-Lindeman Asia Investment. In 2014, it acquired CB from Kolmar Holdings, the holding company of Kolmar Group, and is currently working to sell the online investment-linked finance (P2P) company Together Apps.
Meanwhile, a Medytox official stated, 'The issuance of CB worth 150 billion won is not true.'