Week In Review: Fosun Eyeing $4 Billion Bid For Germany’s Stada Pharma

Shanghai Fosun Pharma (SHA: 600196; HK: 2196) is said to be contemplating a bid for Germany’s Stada Arzneimittel (DE: STAGn), a well established generic drug company (see story). Stada has already received $3.8 billion qualifying bids from two private equity companies, but bidding is expected to get serious over the next month. Stada predicted it would produce 2017 EBITDA of $470 million on revenues of $2.5 billion. To make its offer, Fosun may team up with CVC Capital Partners, a global PE firm headquartered in Luxembourg. Or, Fosun may make the bid alone and seek partners later. 

BeiGene (NSDQ: BGNE) of Beijing is forming a $330 million JV, BeiGene Biologics, that will build a Guangzhou biologic drug manufacturing facility with Guangzhou GET Technology Development (see story). BeiGene will contribute $30 million to the JV, Guangzhou GET will invest $150 million in a combination of direct equity investment and a convertible shareholder loan, and the JV will raise another $150 million in commercial loans. Some of the funds may be used to support China biologic drug development. Construction of the new facility will begin this year. 

BeyondSpring (NSDQ: BYSI), a New York City-China biopharma, completed a $54 million capital raise via a $3.5 million IPO and a $50.8 private placement, both at $20 per share (see story). The transactions value BeyondSpring at $434 million. The private placement was led by two China investment firms, Sangel Star Biomedical and HuaRong TianZe, who are affiliates of current BeyondSpring investors. BeyondSpring has one candidate, plinabulin, in a China clinical trial, as a treatment for non-small cell lung cancer and chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. 

BOE Technology Group (SHZ: 000725), a Beijing company that is China’s largest crystal display maker, invested $50 million in Israeli medical device company Cnoga Medical (see story). Cnoga produces devices that measure common vital signs optically, based on skin color changes in a person’s fingertip. For its investment, BOE now owns a 24% stake in Cnoga (the transaction values Cnoga at $212 million) and has two board seats. The two companies will market Cnoga’s products jointly in China, and Cnoga will develop a new line of products for professional use.