On November 1, Hong Kong listed company Baiji Shenzhou, an innovative biopharmaceutical enterprise, announced that Amgen, an American biopharmaceutical giant, had purchased about 20.5% of its shares. The subscription price is US $13.45 per share (equivalent to US $174.85 per ADSS), and the transactions to be conducted under the share purchase agreement and the cooperation agreement are expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2020.
The deal aims to help Amgen expand its share of China, the world's second-largest drug market.
Baiji Shenzhou and Amgen entered into a purchase agreement for the subscription shares, the announcement said. The subscription shares are equivalent to 20.5% of the issued share capital of the company after the allotment and issuance of subscription shares. The total proceeds from the allotment and issuance of the subscription shares will be approximately US $2.7 billion (approximately HK $21.4 billion), which will be used to fund the company's commercial operations, including its development obligations under the cooperation agreement.
Under the share purchase agreement, Amgen has the right to appoint an independent non-executive director to the board of directors of baichi.
The announcement states that if the closing is delayed due to antitrust or other regulatory matters and the company issues securities prior to the closing in accordance with the general authorization granted by the shareholders at the annual general meeting held on June 5, 2019, Amgen will be allowed to purchase additional shares at the same purchase price or other same terms and conditions as any other purchaser in any such issuance to enable it to realize its holding 20.5% of post closing equity.
Amgen (Amgen), founded in 1980, is mainly engaged in the exploration, research, development, production and sales of innovative drugs for human use, and is committed to exploring the potential of biotechnology for the treatment of patients with serious diseases. Since 2012, Amgen has started to set up branches in China. Amgen ranked 332 in the list of 2018 top 500 world brands released by the world brand laboratory.
Founded in 2010 in Beijing, Baiji Shenzhou (Beijing) Biotechnology Co., Ltd. is a new drug R & D company dedicated to research and development of global leading targeted and immunoantitumor drugs. Baiji Shenzhou, which landed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in August 2018, is the first Chinese biopharmaceutical company to be listed in the US stock market and Hong Kong stock market at the same time.
At the beginning of trading today, Baiji Shenzhou Hong Kong shares rose nearly 30% to HK $108, while Baiji Shenzhou US shares rose 25% after trading.