Samsung Biologics PolyPeptide tender offer ends near 98 percent with settlement waiting on four markets

Samsung Biologics now has the backing of almost every shareholder in PolyPeptide Group, the Swiss contract maker of peptide drug ingredients. The provisional result of the Samsung Biologics PolyPeptide tender offer, published on 2 November 2026, shows 32,350,302 shares tendered, equal to 97.66% of PolyPeptide's issued capital. The Korean company cannot pay for them yet. Settlement, first set for 13 November, now waits on regulators in several countries, and Samsung Biologics expects to close at the end of 2026 or in the first quarter of 2027.

How the final tender count adds up

The Samsung Biologics PolyPeptide tender offer ran through Samsung Peptide AG, a Swiss subsidiary set up for the deal, and covered every PolyPeptide share except treasury stock, 33,016,411 shares in all, according to Korean business press reports. The main acceptance period closed on 12 October and an additional period ran from 19 to 30 October. Shares tendered across both periods equal 97.98% of the shares the offer targeted and 97.66% of all issued shares. Samsung Biologics put a 97.99% participation rate in the headline of its own release, a small gap that the definitive count should settle. That count, checked by an independent auditor, is due on 5 November. The Korean reports said the result clears both the 66.7% minimum acceptance condition and the 90% level needed to force out the remaining holders.

The price has not changed since the offer was announced on 20 July. Samsung Biologics offered CHF 44.31 in cash per share, which it valued at about CHF 1.46 billion in equity, or US$1.78 billion. Chosun Biz put the deal at about 2.7 trillion won at the exchange rate on signing day and about 2.37 trillion won at end of October rates, and called it the largest takeover yet in Korea's pharmaceutical and biotech industry. The interim count after the main period stood close to 88%, so the extra window added roughly ten points of acceptance. When we covered how the tender first cleared its bar, a board vote and several clearances were still open. The table below sets out the steps so far.

Settlement waits on clearances in four markets

Shares tendered into the Samsung Biologics PolyPeptide tender offer do not change hands until settlement, and settlement no longer has a date. The 13 November date has been postponed pending regulatory approvals in several countries, according to BioPharm International. Korean outlets named the authorities involved. Samsung Biologics is seeking clearance in Europe, India, Australia and Brazil, and plans to pay shareholders within 10 trading days once approvals arrive, as reported by Chosun Biz on 2 November. The company has not said which review is taking longest. Neither company's statements so far report a decision from any of them. The expected window for closing stays at the end of 2026 or the first quarter of 2027, and Samsung Biologics ties that timing to the approval schedule rather than to a fixed date.

With almost 98% of the targeted shares in hand, Samsung Peptide intends to squeeze out the remaining minority holders and then delist PolyPeptide from the SIX Swiss Exchange.

Changes at the top of PolyPeptide are also on hold. Shareholders have elected five directors led by Samsung Biologics chief executive John Rim and removed limits on share transfers and voting rights, but both steps take effect only at settlement. Until then PolyPeptide stays a listed Swiss company under its current board. For holders who did not tender, the outcome is already clear. With almost 98% of the targeted shares in hand, Samsung Peptide intends to squeeze out the remaining minority holders and then delist PolyPeptide from the SIX Swiss Exchange. A PolyPeptide squeeze out would end the last public stakes, a little over 2% of the shares the offer targeted. Both steps are planned only after settlement.

Peptide CDMO capacity joins a biologics group

The deal joins two very different kinds of factory. Samsung Biologics runs 785,000 litres of biomanufacturing capacity at its Bio Campus I and II sites in Korea and 60,000 litres in Rockville, Maryland, for 845,000 litres in total, according to company figures cited in the trade press. That capacity serves multispecific antibodies, fusion proteins, antibody drug conjugates and messenger RNA medicines. PolyPeptide is a peptide CDMO: it develops and makes peptide active ingredients for drug companies at six GMP certified plants in Europe, the United States and India. Samsung Biologics has described the pair as a multi modality contract platform. Under the plan reported in Korea, it would add its experience of building and running large plants to PolyPeptide's peptide development and production methods.

Demand for GLP 1 supply sits behind the deal. In July, Samsung Biologics described peptide medicines as one of the fastest growing parts of the drug industry and pointed to obesity and diabetes, including GLP 1 therapies, as well as cancer. PolyPeptide has reported significant exposure to metabolic disease, including GLP 1. At the July announcement, Rim said the deal would boost the group's "geographic reach and proximity further within the United States, Europe, and India." Neither company has named GLP 1 customers or said what share of PolyPeptide output serves them. Not every observer expected this route. Saharsh Davuluri, vice chairman of India's Neuland Labs, told Pharmaceutical Technology in July he was surprised and had expected contract makers to grow capacity organically and invest in the United States.

What leaving the SIX Swiss Exchange means for Switzerland

For Switzerland, the result means a listed peptide specialist is set to become a unit of a Korean group. PolyPeptide's statement on the result was issued from Baar, in the canton of Zug, where the company is based. Another Swiss peptide contract maker, Bachem, has been building out its own capacity, including the new Bubendorf production building that started up in stages. Once PolyPeptide leaves the exchange, customers and investors will get less public reporting on its plants and orders. Korean reports said Samsung Biologics will consider expanding peptide capacity in line with future demand. That is a stated intention with no amount, site or date attached, and it should not be read as a commitment to new plants in Switzerland or elsewhere.

Much about the Samsung Biologics PolyPeptide tender offer remains unknown. The tender figures are provisional until the audited count on 5 November. Samsung Biologics has not disclosed integration plans, capacity investments or changes to how PolyPeptide's plants run, and it has not said whether staff, sites or customer contracts will change. The four clearance processes have no public deadlines, so settlement could fall late in 2026 or slip into early 2027 within the company's own window. The squeeze out and the SIX Swiss Exchange delisting can only start after settlement, so PolyPeptide will stay listed at least until then. For drug makers that buy peptide ingredients from PolyPeptide, the practical question is what new ownership changes in pricing, priority and investment, and neither company has answered it.

Conclusion

The Samsung Biologics PolyPeptide tender offer has done its job on paper, with almost 98% of the targeted shares tendered at CHF 44.31 each. What remains is regulatory. Watch the audited result on 5 November, then decisions from authorities in Europe, India, Australia and Brazil, which set the settlement date. After that come the squeeze out and the delisting from the Swiss exchange, and the first sign of what Samsung Biologics plans for PolyPeptide's six plants.