Hugel

Hugel is a South Korean aesthetic-medicine company and the country's largest aesthetic-medicine group, founded in 2001 . Its products held number-one market share positions in Korea, but the company faced a domestic ceiling that pushed it toward overseas expansion .

In 2021, CBC Group (康桥资本) teamed with Korea's GS Group and Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Company to acquire a 46.9% stake in Hugel for roughly KRW 1.7 trillion (about RMB 9.43 billion) after Bain Capital put its controlling stake up for sale . CBC Group was not the highest bidder, but Bain selected it anyway, reportedly because of CBC's global platform .

Post-acquisition, CBC Group reshaped Hugel's leadership and geographic reach. It brought in former Allergan chairman and CEO Brent L. Saunders in 2021, then in 2023 appointed former LG H&H chairman Suk-yong Cha as board chair and executive chairman . The company's distribution network expanded from roughly 30 countries to over 60 . By 2024, Hugel's revenue mix had shifted from 90% domestic to roughly 50% Korea and 50% overseas, including China, Europe and the US, and it had secured US FDA approval for a key product . Hugel's 2024 net sales reached KRW 373 billion with net profit of KRW 142.4 billion, up 16.7% and 45.8% year-on-year respectively .