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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] Celltrion Group has announced a major capital increase to acquire Eli Lilly’s biopharmaceutical production facility in the United States, alongside a record-high dividend plan. On December 11, the group’s board approved an injection of approximately KRW 782.4 billion into Celltrion USA, its wholly owned subsidiary, and finalized year-end dividends for Celltrion and Celltrion Pharm.
The capital increase is intended to fund Celltrion USA’s acquisition of Eli Lilly’s facility in Branchburg, New Jersey, and will be executed in two phases: KRW 655.5 billion (USD 445.8 million) in the first phase and KRW 126.9 billion (USD 86.3 million) in the second phase, scheduled for next year. The company recently completed antitrust reviews and is in the final stages of the acquisition process. Once completed, the facility will produce Eli Lilly’s active pharmaceutical ingredients (DS) under contract manufacturing (CMO) and Celltrion plans to rapidly expand production capacity through additional facility upgrades.
Celltrion also reinforced its shareholder return policy. The company announced a cash dividend of KRW 750 per common share, totaling approximately KRW 164 billion, based on 218.61 million outstanding shares excluding treasury stock. Including share buybacks and cancellations, Celltrion’s total shareholder return for 2025 is expected to exceed KRW 2 trillion, surpassing the company’s three-year average payout target of 40% set through 2027.
Celltrion Pharm also declared a cash dividend of KRW 200 per common share and a stock dividend of 0.02 shares per share, covering approximately 43.42 million shares excluding treasury stock. The company recorded its highest-ever performance through Q3 2025, with robust growth across both chemical and biosimilar businesses, and stated that the dividend plan balances ongoing investment with sustainable growth.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
