3SBIO Inc offers $712 Million IPO after NASDAQ delisting

Giant Chinese Biotech Company 3SBIO launched up to $712 Hong Kong initial public offering on May 27. This is to fund staff recruitment and acquisitions to attract more customers from the booming Chinese pharmaceutical market.

According to Reuters, biopharmaceutical Production Company 3SBio Inc. is offering 606.1 million shares at HK$8.30 to HK9.10 a share. This is even after being recently delisted from Nasdaq, the second-largest stock exchange in the United States and the world in terms of capitalization and trading volume.

The company was delisted two years ago from the U.S. stock exchange after it was taken private for $340 million by the Chinese private equity firm called CRITIC Private Equity. According to YahooNews, 3SBio is selling 484.9 million shares, while CRITIC is selling 121.2 million shares.

YahooNews reports that the Chinese drug market has grew by about 25.2 percent from 2009 to 2013. This market is accountable for the 4.4 percent of the total $100.5 billion total market of the world. Research firm IMS Health Inc predicts another 18 percent increase in the market until 2018. That costs about $10.01 billion.

According to Bloomberg Business, there are six major investors that will buy a total of $150 million worth of stocks from the 3SBio IPO. While the Singaporean wealth fund GIC Pte with $30 million and BlackRock Inc. with $40 million. 3SBio will use 45 percent of the funds from the IPO for acquisition to expand its portfolio; 15 percent will be used to hire more staff, while another 15 percent will be used to create new production lines. And the rest of the remaining funds will be used for research, development, and working capital.

Giant Chinese Biotech Company 3SBio offers products that counteract the side effects of chemotherapy and treat anemia from people with chronic kidney disease. The company was established in 1993 by Jing Lou and Dan Lou, who are a father and son tandem. The company went public in Nasdaq in 2007.