China's Jiangsu Hansoh Pharmaceutical has sent out the word that it wants to raise capital on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx) to the tune of $1.5 billion in an initial public offering (IPO), specialist financial industry news service IFR reported.
IFR, owned by Thomson Reuters, said a listing may come within the first half of 2016, pending a review of proposals from investment bankers on the best way forward.
Jiangsu Hansoh makes active pharmaceutical ingredients and finished drugs for the global market.
Earlier this month, Hong Kong-listed Uni-Bio Science Group said it obtained exclusive global rights to China FDA-approved oral antidiabetic agent mitiglinide from Jiangsu Hansoh. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The move to an IPO on the HKEx by Jiangsu Hansoh comes as regulators in China plan to lift a ban on mainland IPOs, the Wall Street Journal reported in November.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission did not disclose the names of the companies on an approved list, but drugmaker Jiangxi Fushine Pharmaceutical is thought to be among them, the WSJ reported.
Chinese companies have tapped capital markets in the U.S., Hong Kong and on the mainland in Shanghai, with a current preference for Hong Kong on hopes for higher valuations.
- here's the story from Reuters