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Tencent steps up expansion in healthcare with new US$41.5 million investment in Xunjie Medical as Beijing eases restrictions
- The internet giant’s latest healthcare investment would give it a 19.5 per cent stake in Xunjie Medical, which owns German first aid gear maker Metrax
- That capital outlay comes months after Beijing pledged to approve more technology deals to help prop up China’s slowing economy
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Tencent Holdings plans to invest 291 million yuan (US$41.5 million) in a subsidiary of Jiangsu Yuyue Medical Equipment & Supply Co, which would expand the Chinese internet giant’s portfolio in the healthcare sector months after Beijing pledged to approve more technology deals.
Once completed, that investment would give Tencent a 19.5 per cent stake in Jiangsu Xunjie Medical Technology Co, according to a filing by Yuyue Medical on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange late on Monday. Xunjie Medical controls German firm Metrax, a maker of defibrillators and other first aid medical equipment under the Primedic brand.
The investment will be used in research and development, as well as for daily operations of Yuyue Medical, according to the filing.
Tencent on Tuesday declined to comment. Its shares were up 1.52 per cent to HK$293.40 at the close of trading in Hong Kong.
Before the Tencent deal, healthcare equipment maker Yuyue Medical, headquartered in eastern Jiangsu province and the sole listed firm of Shanghai-based Yuwell Group, had been known for an internet health insurance-related business with Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the South China Morning Post.
Yuyue Medical was also initially involved in a plan that would have raised its stake in Chongqing Ant Consumer Finance, which is 50 per cent-owned by Chinese financial technology unicorn Ant Group, before that capital raising exercise was scrapped in January this year. Ant Group is an affiliate of Alibaba.
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