Scientific firm BGI Tech targets US$400m from IPO

BGI Tech, a unit of the world's biggest DNA-sequencing group, plans to raise about US$400 million from an initial public offering in Hong Kong this year, two sources told Bloomberg.

Citigroup and Morgan Stanley were arranging the share sale, they said, adding that BGI Tech, controlled by Shenzhen-based BGI, aimed to launch the offering in the fourth quarter of this year.

Bankers told the South China Morning Post the biotechnology firm was still looking at a variety of options, including a Hong Kong listing or further private fundraising, because private equity firms including China Everbright, Softbank and Sequoia Capital of the United States were not eager to exit their investments.

About 14 private equity and venture capital investors including Yunfeng Capital, founded by Alibaba's Jack Ma Yun and media veteran Yu Feng, invested four billion yuan (HK$5.1 billion) in BGI last year, taking a 40 per cent stake.

BGI chairman Wang Jun told the Post last year that it was going through a fresh round of fundraising but declined to comment on the size or target investors.