Fosun Pharmaceutical begins taking IPO orders from big investors
Shanghai pharmaceutical firm starts taking orders for much-delayed listing that is pitched as inexpensive and closely watched by market
Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical will start taking orders from institutional investors today in a bid to raise up to US$593 million through a much-delayed initial public offering.
The listing of the Shanghai-based maker of diagnostic equipment and medical instruments in Hong Kong is being closely monitored by the market, as the deal is set to be an important benchmark for upcoming share offerings amid a drought of new share sales in the city - the world's top listing venue for the past three years.
Fosun, which is already listed in Shanghai, is pricing the shares at an indicative range of HK$11.80 to HK$13.68, translating into a price-earnings ratio of 12.1 to 14 times next year's earnings, according to a banker involved in the listing.
Underwriters are pitching the deal as an "inexpensive" play to ride on the mainland's rising disposable income and ageing population.
Fosun's 32.1 per cent stake in Hong Kong-listed Sinopharm Group, the nation's largest distributor of pharmaceutical and health-care products, is valued at more than US$2.6 billion. That means the market value of the shares it owns in Sinopharm accounts for nearly 75 per cent of Fosun's US$3.5 billion market capitalisation.