Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical is back in the saddle to raise money in China, joining a slew of biomedical companies that investors are eager to fund.
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| Guo Guangchang, chairman of China's Fosun Group |
FinanceAsia said the Shanghai-based company will float domestic bonds to raise RMB3 billion ($471 million) in a move that came soon after the People's Bank of China last week cut the amount of cash reserves banks must have on hand, aiding market liquidity.
Citing a statement by Fosun Pharmaceutical Chairman Qiyu Chen to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, FinanceAsia said the bond is part of a RMB5 billion approved quota that can be offered under rules set by the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical is a unit of conglomerate Fosun Group whose high-flying top executive, Chairman Guo Guangchang, was detained in December last year by Chinese authorities in what was initially assumed to be part of Beijing's crackdown on corruption, though he has since been back on the scene.
The pharmaceutical unit has done a series of deals in the past year, including a May 2015 deal with a consortium of high-profile Chinese companies to buy San Diego-based biotech Ambrx. It has also taken a lead in stem cell work in China.
As well, Fosun Pharmaceutical's Yaneng Biotechnology unit is the subject of reports it will sell 40 million shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
And last month, South Korea's Genexine licensed China rights for a novel long-acting EPO drug to Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical unit Shanghai Chemo WanBang Biopharma.
The spate of dealmaking and cash raised comes as reports this week said medical technology company WuXi AppTech received a $1.5 billion credit line from Ping An Bank. The lender is a unit of Ping An Insurance, which took part in a management-led buyout of the parent WuXi PharmaTech late in 2015.
The $1.5 billion figure also comes as the biologics unit of WuXi is reportedly looking to raise the same figure on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
- here's the story from FinanceAsia