Oct 8 (Askume) – China’s Wuxi AppTec (603259.SS) will raise $500 million by issuing convertible bonds , according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday, a month after the U.S. House of Representatives banned ties with the company on national security grounds. . operate business.
Proceeds from the deal will be used for the Shanghai-based biotech company’s global expansion and debt refinancing, Wuxi Aptech said in a stock exchange filing.
The zero-coupon bonds will mature in October 2025 and have an initial conversion price of HK$80.02 per Hong Kong share. That conversion rate represents a premium of about 16% to the stock’s closing price on Monday.
The company said Tuesday it is also considering options for its cell and gene therapy manufacturing unit, WuXi Advanced Therapies, which operates four laboratories and manufacturing facilities in Philadelphia.
The Financial Times reported last week that WuXi AppTec had put the business up for sale. The company said on Tuesday it had not yet entered into a binding agreement for the unit.
Wuxi Apptech is committed to the discovery, development and production of small molecule drugs, cell therapy and gene therapy, as well as providing medical device testing services.
The company, like other Chinese companies, has been at the center of new US laws aimed at limiting its operations in the United States over national security concerns.
The US House of Representatives in SeptemberThe Biosecurity Act was passed , which would ban federal contracts with targeted companies and companies that do business with them.
The bill aims to protect Americans’ personal health and genetic information from foreign adversaries and encourage US pharmaceutical and biotech companies to reduce their dependence on China for everything from manufacturing drug ingredients to early research.
The bill must be passed by the US Senate before it goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. China’s Foreign Ministry described the US bill as “discriminatory”.
Since the beginning of this year, the share price of Hong Kong-listed Wuxi Aptech has fallen by about 14%, while its Shanghai-listed share price has fallen by 28%.
(This article has been revised to read that the US House of Representatives has passed rules banning business with WuXi AppTec, instead of the full passage of the rules in paragraph 1)
