Chinese cancer drugs developer InnoCare raises US$289 million after Hong Kong IPO is nearly 300 times oversubscribed
- Retail investors subscribed to 7.48 billion shares, 298.75 times the shares offered to them, InnoCare said in a filing to Hong Kong exchange
- Co-founder and CEO Jasmine Cui Jisong said ‘very supportive cornerstone investors’ agreed to buy US$164 million worth of shares
InnoCare Pharma, a Beijing-based cancer drugs developer, has raised HK$2.2 billion (US$289 million) from its initial public offering after pricing it at the high end of the asking range. The IPO’s retail tranche was nearly 300 times oversubscribed after receiving strong subscription interest even as the coronavirus outbreak has set off the worst economic and stock market downturn in a decade.
“Our shares offering was well received by investors from all over world, including many long-term oriented institutional investors,” co-founder and chief executive Jasmine Cui Jisong told the Post in an interview. “They include some very supportive cornerstone investors.”
The cornerstone investors, bound by a six-month share sale moratorium from the time of listing, have agreed to buy US$164 million (HK$1.28 billion) worth of shares offered at HK$8.18 to HK$8.95 each, according to the listing prospectus.
Retail investors have subscribed to 7.48 billion shares, 298.75 times the shares offered to them, InnoCare said in a filing to Hong Kong’s bourse on Friday. Shares offered to international investors were “very significantly oversubscribed”, it added without giving a figure.
Asked why InnoCare decided to brave the volatile market conditions, Cui said as the audited financial reports and legal papers required for the IPO had already been prepared, the management decided that they would rather “get the IPO behind us so we can focus on the scientific projects”.
