DUBAI- The UAE's GlobalOne Healthcare Holding (GHH) said on Tuesday it has bought more shares in biopharma firm Alvotech, which GHH said is expected to go public in the first half of this year via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) backed by Oaktree Capital Management L.P.

After the merger, the combined company that will trade under the ticker ALVO is estimated to have a $2.25 billion valuation. Yas Holding, GlobalOne's parent, bought a 2.5% stake in Alvotech in 2019 at a valuation of $1.8 billion.

"We are very pleased with our strategic partnership with Alvotech, which aligns with our vision to continuously improve access to biopharmaceuticals in the UAE, while serving to strengthen our ongoing investments in the healthcare industry," said Murshed al-Redaini, group CEO of Yas Holding.

GHH CEO Ashraf Radwan said in the same statement that the partnership with Alvotech would lead to localising manufacturing and analytics and GHH was exploring "collaboration opportunities with the UAE Ministry of Health, to transfer biopharmaceutical manufacturing and analytics technology to the region."

Alvotech is expected to receive $450 million in proceeds when the proposed SPAC deal closes, barring any redemptions. That will include "$150 million from a private placement in public equity backed by Temasek, CVC Capital Partners and funds managed by Suvretta Capital, among others," GHH said.

(Reporting by Yousef Saba; editing by David Evans) ((Yousef.Saba@thomsonreuters.com; +971562166204; https://twitter.com/YousefSaba))