Austar Lifesciences seeks HK$390m in Hong Kong flotation

Austar Lifesciences plans to raise up to HK$390 million in an initial public offering in Hong Kong.

Austar, which provides engineering services to Chinese pharmaceutical firms, aimed to issue 125 million shares, of which 12.5 million would be offered in Hong Kong and 112.5 million placed internationally, the Cayman Islands-registered company said in a statement to the stock exchange.

The shares, which are scheduled to start trading on November 7, will be priced at HK$2.29 to HK$3.12 each. Haitong International Securities was the sponsor, while the joint bookrunners were Haitong and Bocom International, the company said.

China-based Austar plans to spend 39.6 per cent of the proceeds on a research and development and production facility in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province. About 20 per cent would be used for potential acquisitions in China, North America or Europe and 14.2 per cent to build a production facility in Shanghai, the statement said.

The firm's net profit fell 8 per cent to 32.75 million yuan (HK$41.4 million) in the first half of the year.

"Our revenue dropped 9.4 per cent to 320.8 million yuan for the six months due to the decrease in revenue from the business segment of liquid and bioprocess system," Austar said.