Vaccine and pharmaceutical products company China NT Pharma Group will fund expansion of its distribution, products and infrastructure through a Hong Kong main-board listing expected to raise as much as HK$2.14 billion.
Chairman and CEO David Ng Tit said yesterday that about a quarter of the funds raised, amounting to between HK$1.62 billion and HK$2.14 billion in total, would be used to improve its vaccine distribution network. The vaccine business represented 57.1 per cent of turnover.
A further quarter of the proceeds would be used for upgrading and expanding infrastructure, including a logistics centre and information management systems. Another 40 per cent will go on expanding the product portfolio through licensing and purchasing imported vaccines or pharmaceutical products. The rest would be earmarked for expanding its product promotion teams.
The company, founded in 1995, plans to issue more than 357 million shares. Ninety per cent of the shares, 234 million new shares and 86.55 million shares to be offered by shareholders, will be offered under an international placing. The rest will be under the Hong Kong public offer.
The offer price will be HK$4.54 to HK$6 per share. The offer begins today and closes at noon next Wednesday. Shares are expected to list on April 20.
Francis Ng Yuk-keung, chief financial officer, said the company's gross margin had risen from 17.2 per cent in 2008 to 20 per cent in 2009 and 24.9 per cent last year.
