Chinese Vaccine Producer Kanghua Biological Raises $149m On Shenzhens Startup Board

Chinese vaccine producer Kanghua Biological has raised 1.056 billion yuan ($149 million) in an initial public offering (IPO) on Shenzhen’s startup board ChiNext on Tuesday.

The company, which is one of the major manufacturers of rabies vaccines in China, offered 15 million shares at a price of 70.37 yuan ($9.93) apiece.

Kanghua Biological, formally known as Chengdu Kanghua Biological Products Co Ltd, was established in 2016 by Wang Zhentao, a businessman from eastern China’s coastal city of Wenzhou – a place long known as the country’s cradle for private entrepreneurship. The inception of Kanghua Biological came four years after Wang brought his mainland leather shoe business Aokang Group to list on the Main Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) in 2012.

The Chengdu-based company registered 157 million yuan ($22 million) in revenue in the first three months of 2020. Its net profit attributable to shareholders stood at nearly 65 million yuan ($9 million), up 82.59 per cent compared to the same period in 2019.

According to the company’s prospectus, an investment platform of Chinese state-backed asset manager Yingke PE remains as the largest shareholder of Kanghua Biological with a 20.60 per cent stake after the IPO. Yingke PE also holds shares through another investment vehicle it launched in partnership with Chinese clinical research service provider Hangzhou Tigermed and others.

Aokang Group comes second with a 16.08 per cent stake. Wang, who serves as Kanghua Biological’s chairman of the board, is the third-biggest shareholder and holds a 13.78 per cent stake.

Kanghua Biological lists its shares under the symbol “300841.” Minsheng Securities is the lead underwriter of the deal.