(Yicai) May 23 -- Livzon Pharmaceutical Group said it will take a controlling stake in Vietnam’s Imexpharm for VND5.73 trillion (USD220.7 million) so as to further expand the Chinese drugmaker’s business overseas.

Livzon Pharma’s Vietnamese unit Lian SPG Holding will buy 64.8 percent of IMP from South Korean conglomerate SK Group’s Singaporean investment arm SK Investment Vina III and its two Vietnamese affiliates Sunrise Kim and KBA Investment, its Zhuhai-based parent company announced yesterday.

The deal marks the first time that a public traded Chinese drugmaker has acquired a controlling stake in a listed Vietnamese peer.

“The acquisition will lay a solid foundation for Livzon Pharma’s further expansion into overseas markets, supporting its long-term strategy of internationalization and sustainable development in the pharmaceutical sector,” it noted.

Listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, IMP is one of the country’s leading pharmaceutical makers and distributors, particularly of antibiotics and cardiovascular drugs, Livzon Pharma noted.

IMP reported a net profit before tax of VND404.2 billion (USD15.6 million) last year, an increase of 7.1 percent. Revenue jumped 19 percent to VND2.51 trillion (USD96.9 million). In the first quarter of this year, it had profit before tax of VND95 billion (USD3.7 million) and revenue of VND594 billion (USD23 million), up 23 percent and 21 percent, respectively, from a year earlier.

Livzon Pharma’s products include pharmaceutical formulations for digestive and neuropsychiatric diseases, assisted reproductive drugs, active pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediates, diagnostic reagents, and medical equipment.

In recent years, the company has accelerated its expansion abroad to mitigate risk. Its overseas sales rose 9.7 percent to CNY1.7 billion (USD239.4 million) last year, accounting for nearly 15 percent of its total revenue, up from about 13 percent the year before.

Executives from Livzon Pharma said at an investor conference last month that its products are on sale in multiple markets across Southeast Asia, South America, the Middle East, and Africa. It has also started building an API factory in Indonesia to cut production costs, speed up its overseas responsiveness, and better penetrate the European and North American markets.

Shares of Livzon Pharma [SHE: 000513] closed 0.4 percent lower at CNY36.65 (USD5.09) each in Shenzhen today. Its Hong Kong-listed stock [HKG: 1513] rose 2 percent to end at HKD27.95 (USD3.57).

Editor: Futura Costaglione