New | Fosun Pharmaceutical shares soar on plan for 5.8b yuan share issue

Shares in Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group surged in Hong Kong and Shanghai on Friday after the drugmaker said it planned to raise 5.8 billion yuan (HK$7.3 billion) through an A-share issue.

The company, controlled by billionaire Guo Guangchang, aimed to issue to the shares to eight investors, it said in a statement to the Hong Kong exchange on Friday.

The announcement follows an 18 per cent gain in the drugmaker’s Shanghai stock this year.

On Friday, the shares soared more than 16.8 per cent in Hong Kong to close at HK$30.20 and hit the daily 10 per cent daily limit in Shanghai, at 27.27 yuan.

Chairman Chen Qiyu said the company would issue 246.8 million new shares, or 20 per cent of the total of issued A shares, to a group of investors including insurer China Life and asset management firms China Merchant Wealth and Taikang AMC, according to the exchange statement.

Investors who take up the offering are subject to a lock-up period of 36 months, the company said, noting that the fundraising move help to strengthen its international strategies and promote further development of its principal businesses.