Gwangmu Completes Acquisition of Ubiz Solution... "Expanding Scale and Profitability Through Additional M&A"

Gwangmu is expanding its business portfolio by making Ubiz Solution, a smart factory automation control specialist, a wholly owned subsidiary. The company plans to continue its growth in scale and profitability by pursuing additional mergers and acquisitions (M&A) following the acquisition of a company with stable profitability and cash generation capabilities.

On September 30, Gwangmu announced that it had finalized a share purchase agreement worth a total of 30.7 billion won by paying a remaining balance of 28.1 billion won to acquire Ubiz Solution. Earlier, on September 9, the two companies signed a share purchase agreement (SPA) for the acquisition of Ubiz Solution. With the completion of this deal, Ubiz Solution has become a 100% subsidiary of Gwangmu.

Ubiz Solution specializes in establishing smart factory automation control systems. The company possesses the technological capability to handle the entire process, from designing factory automation systems tailored to each client's production environment to equipment construction and installation, verification, and trial operation.

In particular, the company has strong expertise in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors, providing manufacturing and quality management systems (GMP-compliant production facilities) and process automation control. In the automation control business, Ubiz Solution offers building management system (BMS) and energy management system (EMS) automation, process automation, as well as design and consulting services. In the smart factory sector, it has secured the technology to respond to all five levels of ISA-95, the international automation standard.

Unlike general automation facilities, GMP production facilities must collect, record, and store data from the manufacturing process in accordance with standards required by regulatory authorities. In Korea's pharmaceutical and biotech industries, the international guidelines of Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme (PIC/S) are continuously reflected, raising the standard for data integrity and sterile contamination control.

Such regulatory changes are driving increased demand for production process automation and data management system construction. As pharmaceutical and biotech companies continue to invest in automation and respond to GMP-related regulations, Ubiz Solution has continued to see steady growth in its performance.

Ubiz Solution’s sales increased from 15.2 billion won in 2023 to 17.1 billion won in 2024 and reached 20.0 billion won in 2025. Operating profit also grew during the same period from 2.0 billion won to 3.5 billion won, and then to 4.6 billion won. The operating margin rose from 12.9% in 2023 to 20.3% in 2024, and to 22.9% in 2025.

Net income continued to grow. Net income surged by approximately 73.3% from 1.9 billion won in 2023 to 3.3 billion won in 2024 and then rose by another 30.3% to 4.3 billion won in 2025. Over two years, the net income nearly 2.3 times increased.

Major clients include SK Plasma, GC Green Cross Corporation, Chong Kun Dang, SK Biotek, DongA Pharm, and Dongkook Pharmaceutical. These are mostly pharmaceutical and biotech companies operating GMP production facilities. As GMP facilities require ongoing production line expansion, maintenance, and system upgrades even after initial construction, Gwangmu stated that existing clients are likely to have long-term relationships with the company.

Market growth prospects are also highlighted as a positive factor. The global manufacturing automation market is projected to expand from about 17.3 billion US dollars in 2025 to approximately 29.4 billion US dollars in 2031. The average annual growth rate from 2026 to 2031 is estimated at about 9.2%. Demand for manufacturing automation and data management is increasing due to the expansion of biopharmaceutical and vaccine production, as well as the growth of the cell and gene therapy market.

Gwangmu, having secured a cash-generating subsidiary through the acquisition of Ubiz Solution, also plans to pursue further M&A opportunities.

A Gwangmu representative stated, "Cash generation capability is a key indicator for evaluating a company’s business competitiveness and financial soundness. Ubiz Solution continually generates free cash flow based on stable operating cash flow."

They further said, "We plan to accelerate growth in scale and profitability by pursuing future additional M&A, focusing on companies with excellent operating profit and stable cash flow as acquisition targets."

They added, "The next M&A is planned to be pursued on a scale that surpasses the current Ubiz Solution acquisition."

Through this acquisition, Gwangmu aims to establish a new business foundation in pharmaceutical and biotech smart factory automation, securing a stable base for profit and cash generation, and to expand its business through additional M&A activities.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.