GL Capital leads $290m investment in China’s Sangon Biotech

CPE, CDB Venture Capital, Greenwoods Investment, and healthcare-focused HG Capital also participated. It is being called the company’s first strategic funding round.

Founded in 2003 as a unit of genetic engineering specialist BBI Life Sciences, Sangon offers diversified product R&D and related services in areas such as upstream raw materials, DNA synthesis, and reagents and consumables for industrial medical diagnosis customers.

The sales network is said to cover most domestic universities and research institutions, as well as more than 13,000 pharmaceutical and biotech companies. There are also seven direct sales outlets across Asia, North America, South America, and Europe.

Last month, GL Capital secured a leveraged buyout of China-based contract manufacturer Huizhou Foryou Medical Devices worth more than USD 200m, using renminbi financing to avoid US dollar interest rate exposure. Shirley Lin, a partner at GL, told AVCJ that the firm has accelerated its investment pace since last year.

“Following the market correction in the healthcare sector, we are seeing more buyout opportunities,” Lin said last month. “Private equity investors are gradually shifting back from pre-revenue stage investments to focus on more mature companies that can generate strong cash flow.”

BBI went public in Hong Kong in 2014 after receiving investment from Qiming Venture Partners; it delisted in 2020 via a management buyout worth HKD 1.96bn (USD 250m).

Recent activities in China’s broader life sciences R&D space includes MegaRobo Technologies, an artificial intelligence and robotics-focused supplier, raising a USD 300m round led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Asia Investment Capital, and GGV Capital.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Healthcare
• Technology
• Expansion
• China
• GL Capital
• CPE Capital
• Greenwoods Asset Management
• Huagai Capital
• health-tech