Junshi Biosciences seeks up to $414m in HK offering

The company – which is listing under provisions that allow biotech companies to sell shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange despite having little or no revenue – is planning to sell 158.9 million shares at HK$19.38-20.38 apiece. It already trades on the National Equities Exchange & Quotations (NEEQ), also known as the New Third Board.

Seven cornerstone investors have agreed to cover approximately $242 million of the offering, representing a 12.87% stake in Junshi. They include Loyal Valley Capital, GIC Private, and TR Capital.

Loyal Valley is participating through two funds – its debut fund of $390 million established in 2017 and a successor vehicle that recently achieved a first close and has an overall target of $400 million. GIC is an LP in both funds, while TR is an investor in the first. They were both participants earlier this year in a restructuring of a Loyal Valley-managed portfolio that involved a renminbi-to-US dollar conversion.

Founded in 2012, Junshi has a pipeline of 13 drug candidates, of which five are at the clinical stage. They include a cancer treatment that is said to be close to commercialization in China. It is expected to receive new drug application approval in late 2018 or early 2019. The same drug is undergoing phase one clinical trials in the US.

A renminbi fund managed by Hillhouse was one of five investors that committed RMB250 million in 2015 to support drug development efforts. It holds a 5.11% interest in Junshi. Hillhouse is identified in the prospectus as one of several sophisticated investors. One of several qualification criteria for pre-revenue biotech companies listing in Hong Kong is that they receive backing from an investor specializing in healthcare or from a major pharmaceutical player at least six months before the IPO.

Junshi posted RMB1.14 million ($165,000) in revenue for 2017, down from $3.75 million the previous year. Over the same period, its net loss rose from RMB132.9 million to RMB321.1 million.

Earlier this year, Ascletis became the first pre-revenue biotech company to list in Hong Kong. Three more have since followed. All are trading below their offering prices.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Healthcare
• IPO
• China
• Hillhouse Capital Management
• Loyal Valley Capital
• TR Capital
• GIC Private