PE-backed Kintor Pharma raises $240m in Hong Kong IPO

The company sold 92.3 million shares for HK$20.15 apiece, with the portion of the offering allocated to Hong Kong-based investors more than 550 times oversubscribed, according to a filing. A further 13.9 million shares could be sold under the overallotment option. Four cornerstone investors – including HighLight – covered nearly half the offering.

Kintor’s stock opened at HK$20.30 on May 22 and peaked at HK$22.80 before falling back to close at HK$21.55. As of late morning trading on May 25, the stock was at HK$20.50, down 4.65%.

Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Suzhou, Kintor primarily focuses on cancer treatments. It has a pipeline of five clinical-stage drug candidates. The most advanced is a treatment for prostate cancer and breast cancer that is undergoing phase-three trials in China and phase-two trials in the US. Two more drugs are in phase-two trials: one in China for hair loss, the other in Taiwan for liver cancer. A fourth, targeting solid tumors, is in phase-one trials in China.

The company began building a 20,000-square-meter R&D and production base in Suzhou Industrial Park in 2018. It is expected to be fully functional later this year. Kintor listed under the rules permitting Hong Kong IPOs by pre-revenue biotech companies. Its net loss widened from RMB108.5 million ($15.2 million) in 2018 to RMB232.6 million last year, largely due to rising R&D costs.

Kintor received angel funding from Legend Star – an incubator controlled by Legend Holdings – and Origin VC – a unit of China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park Ventures – in 2012. This was followed by a RMB20 million Series A from BioVenture Investment, which also has ties to Suzhou Industrial Park, in 2014. HighLight participated in a RMB30 million Series B the following year.

The company listed on the National Equities Exchange & Quotation (NEEQ), also known as the New Third Board, in 2016 but delisted two years later. Green Pine and a unit of China Construction Bank were among the new participants in a RMB288.5 million round in 2018 that also featured existing investors. A Series D of $44 million closed in 2019.

Following the IPO – but prior to the overallotment option – Legend owned 7.58% of Kintor. HighLight’s stake was 5.42%, while BioVenture and Origin held 6.97% and 6.72%, respectively.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• IPO
• Healthcare
• China
• Pharmaceuticals
• HighLight Capital
• Green Pine Capital Partners