Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund to invest $50 million in SK Plasma's blood product plant

Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund will invest up to $50 million into SK Plasma’s project to build a blood product plant in the country.

Representatives from SK Plasma, SK Discovery, the Indonesia Investment Authority and the Indonesian government attend the signing ceremony of a term sheet for a blood product facility project in the country, SK Plasma said Tuesday. [SK CHEMICALS]

Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund will invest up to $50 million into SK Plasma’s project to build a blood product plant in the country.

SK Plasma and the Indonesia Investment Authority (INA) signed a term sheet on the investment and the operative details of the project, the local blood product supplier said Tuesday.

With the signing of the agreement, INA will hold the second-largest stake in SK Plasma’s project to build a blood product manufacturing facility in the Southeast Asian country.

SK Plasma is the first Korean company to enter an equity partnership with the Indonesian sovereign wealth fund.

Blood products are therapeutic substances derived from human blood. Essential treatments such as albumin and immunoglobulin can be made through fractionating or purifying blood components.

SK Plasma received approval from the Indonesian government in March to establish a blood fractionation facility in the country. The facility, slated for completion by 2025, will have a processing capacity of up to 1 million liters annually.

A local joint venture will handle the plant’s operation and product sales and help the Indonesian government enhance the country’s self-sufficiency in procuring essential medical supplies and drugs. Indonesia currently imports all of its blood products.

Based in Pangyo, Gyeonggi, SK Plasma is 77.24 percent owned by the holding company SK Discovery. The company was established in 2015 as a wholly-owned subsidiary under its former parent company, SK Chemicals, which later spun off its holdings division as SK Discovery.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]