[Trading Trend] 'Ultra V', Embraced by VIG After IPO Withdrawal, Trades at a 50 Billion Won Valuation in the OTC Market

The stock price of Ultra V, which has positioned itself as a core pillar of the medical aesthetics 'Bolt-on' strategy after being acquired by private equity fund (PEF) manager VIG Partners, has recently shown a downward trend in the over-the-counter (OTC) market. It was recognized for a corporate valuation of 79 billion won during its push for a KOSDAQ listing and traded in the 70 billion won range until early this year, but following the aftermath of its listing withdrawal and sluggish performance, it has recently been trading in the 50 billion won range.

Failed Listing and Decreased Profitability… Trading at a 50 Billion Won Valuation in the OTC Market

Ultra V drew market attention by developing 'UltraCol', Korea's first dissolving thread (PDO)-based collagen injectable. Based on this, it pursued entry into KOSDAQ through a merger with Kyobo No. 13 SPAC in the first half of 2025. At the time, assuming rapid sales growth of UltraCol, the company targeted a total market capitalization of 79 billion won by adding a SPAC combination of 10 billion won to its own corporate valuation of 69 billion won.

However, the exchange's screening standards were high. In particular, uncertainty in achieving expected sales held the company back, as the partner company's minimum order amount fulfillment rate dropped significantly from 72.3% in 2023 to 47% in 2024, and ultimately, it voluntarily withdrew its preliminary listing review in May 2025.

Furthermore, its stagnant performance in 2025 was a bitter blow. On a separate basis, sales in 2025 remained at the previous year's level at approximately 16.1 billion won, but operating profit was only 1.1 billion won and net profit was 900 million won, showing a significant decrease compared to the previous year (1.6 billion won and 4.2 billion won, respectively), leading to worsened profitability. Compounded by the failed listing and profit decline, its corporate valuation in the OTC market, which was quoted at over 70 billion won earlier this year, has recently fallen to the 50 billion won range.

Investment from Gangnam Unni After Listing Withdrawal, and Surprise Acquisition by VIG Partners

Even amidst the negative news of the listing withdrawal, Ultra V sought a breakthrough. Around May, roughly the time of its listing withdrawal, it attempted a turnaround by attracting strategic investment for global market expansion and R&D enhancement from 'Gangnam Unni' (operator Healing Paper), Korea's largest medical aesthetics platform.

The most decisive change was the acquisition by VIG Partners. Initially known to be in the review stage for a management buyout, VIG Partners ended up acquiring Ultra V in a surprise move. With this, Ultra V faced a new phase of being incorporated under a massive private equity fund's beauty value chain, rather than surviving independently.

VIG's Medical Aesthetics 'Bolt-on' Strategy, the Core Key to Recreating the Preedlife Myth

Behind VIG Partners' surprise acquisition of Ultra V, whose listing was thwarted, lies a strong 'bolt-on' (additional acquisition of companies in the same industry) strategy. VIG has a success myth from the past where it consecutively acquired several mutual aid (funeral service) companies, integrated them into a single brand called 'Preedlife', and then sold it for about 882.9 billion won, yielding a return of more than four times its original investment.

This bolt-on formula is being applied identically to the medical aesthetics market. Following LG Chem's aesthetics division (fillers) acquired for approximately 200 billion won and botulinum toxin company ATGC, VIG Partners also acquired Ultra V, which owns the skin booster 'UltraCol', officially launching the integrated corporation 'Liv Science'.

Through this, the plan is to achieve economies of scale by establishing a 'total solution' sales network that supplies a package of fillers (shape correction), toxins (wrinkle improvement), and skin boosters (skin texture improvement) targeting hospitals (B2H). Although Ultra V's individual corporate valuation has recently slumped to the 50 billion won range, observations suggest that it could rebound once again if synergies such as sharing sales networks and co-entering overseas markets are exerted within VIG Partners' integrated value chain.

As this is the first full-fledged year since the VIG Partners acquisition, industry attention is heavily focused on how Ultra V will grow within the Liv Science system.