Northeast Pharma plans $375 mln private placement
Shanghai. June 7. INTERFAX-CHINA - Northeast Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. plans to raise RMB 2.43 billion ($375 million) in a private placement to fund the relocation and expansion of its main production facility, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange-listed firm announced June 4.
The company plans to issue 150 million shares to no more than ten institutional investors, and relocate to the Chemical Industry Park in Shenyang Xihe Economic Zone from its current location in central Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province.
Of the funds raised, the firm plans to use about RMB 1.74 billion ($268.52 million) to relocate production facilities for vitamin C active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and sorbitolum, a raw material used in the synthesis vitamin C API. Its capacity for vitamin C API will be unchanged at 25,000 tons, while capacity for sorbitolum will be raised from 45,000 tons to 76,800 tons per year.
China's annual consumption of vitamin C API stands at about 10,000 tons, but demand could soar to about 80,000 tons based on annual per capita consumption of 60 grams in the U.S.
Furthermore, the company plans to use about RMB 257 million ($39.66 million) to more than double production capacity for disodium phosphonomycin API from 400 to 900 tons, and phosphonomycin calcium API from 120 to 300 tons.
The remaining capital will be spent on moving and expanding workshops for products including levocarnitine, berberine and carboprost methylate.
- KZ