Celltrion Holdings, the parent company of major South Korean pharmaceutical company Celltrion Inc., is pushing for a listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange, industry sources said Monday.

Celltrion Holdings' Chairman Seo Jung-jin announced the company's initial public offering plan during an event hosted by the Federation of Korean Industries a day earlier, according to the sources.

Seo said the company will push for an IPO on the tech-heavy Nasdaq around the end of this year at the earliest, but company officials did not elaborate.

The move comes as part of Celltrion's long-term plan to achieve annual sales of 12 trillion won ($9.08 billion) by 2030 and become a big global industry player.

To reach the target, Celltrion integrated with its sales affiliate Celltrion Healthcare Co. last year and plans to push for an additional merger with its chemical drug-producing affiliate Celltrion Pharm Inc. later this year.