pharmaceutical company Gland Pharma China’s Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co Ltd is considering a sale of the firm.
According to a Bloomberg report, the Chinese firm is working with a consultant, while companies in the industry and buyout firms are in the early stages of studying the business. Fosun holds 57.86% stake in Gland Pharma.
The report added that Fosun is yet to initiate the formal sale process of its stake in Gland Pharma. In a stock exchange filing, Gland Pharma Ltd on Tuesday clarified that the company is not aware of its promoters – Fosun Pharma and/or its parent, Fosun International – considering sale of shares of the company.
Shares of the drugmaker rose 8.7% on the report, their biggest intraday gain since July 2021.
Fosun Pharma’s debt-laden parent company, Fosun International Ltd., once one of China’s most prolific acquirers, has carried out a series of stake cuts and sales this year, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
As of last close, Gland Pharma’s shares were down 54.8% for the year, giving it a market value of roughly $3.5 billion. The stock is up just 2.1% since it was listed in November 2020.
The Bloomberg report also said that Fosun Pharma’s high valuation expectations could become a potential roadblock to any potential deal amid a tough financial environment as interest rates are rising globally. Bloomberg quoted sources as saying that it has not started the formal sale process, and there is no certainty that the discussions will lead to a transaction.
Fosun Pharma has acquired KKR & Co. acquired a 74% stake in Gland in 2017 for approximately $1.1 billion from an investor group including It listed the business three years later in Mumbai in an $873 million initial public offering, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
