BRIEF: Hengrui Pharma surges in trading debut for $1.25 billion IPO

Shares of Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.  (1276.HK; 600276.SH) jumped in their Hong Kong trading debut on Friday, as the leading drug maker’s new IPO complemented its existing listing in Shanghai. Hengrui’s stock opened at HK$57, up 29% over its offer price, and continued to rise during the session to close up 30.87% at HK$57.65 by the midday break.

The company said it issued 224.5 million shares in the IPO, with 21.50% allocated to the Hong Kong portion for local investors. The Hong Kong tranche was 454 times oversubscribed, while the international placement was 16 times oversubscribed. The final offer price of HK$44.05 represented the top of its range, raising net proceeds of HK$9.75 billion ($1.25 billion).

Founded in 1970, Hengrui is China’s largest developer of anti-tumor and surgical drugs, and one of the country’s most innovative large pharmaceutical firms. The company reported its revenue rose 20.1% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year to 7.21 billion yuan, while its profit rose 37.2% to 1.88 billion yuan.

By Lee Shih Ta

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