The market miseries generated by Greece’s debt crisis yesterday made no dent in gains by drug maker Shenzhen Hepalink Pharmaceutical (深圳海普瑞藥業公司), following an initial public offering (IPO) that catapulted the company’s low-profile founders to the richest couple in China.
Shares of Shenzhen Hepalink, a maker of heparin, a blood thinner based on chemicals derived from pig intestines, rose 1.5 percent to 177.78 yuan yesterday, its second day of trading after the IPO raised 5.9 billion yuan (US$864 million).
The company’s share price jumped 18 percent in its debut on Thursday after starting at an IPO price of 148 yuan — a record for a share traded on a Chinese stock exchange.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Li Li (李鋰) and his wife, Li Tan (李坦), who own a combined 72 percent of the company’s shares following its IPO, now hold wealth estimated at more than 50 billion yuan.
That tops auto and battery maker BYD Co (比亞迪) chairman Wang Chuanfu’s (王傳福) fortune, which Shanghai-based research group Hurun had listed as the biggest in China at US$5.1 billion.
The better-than-expected IPO performance boosted confidence in the resilience of China’s share markets despite losses stemming partly from the Greek debt crisis.
Shanghai’s benchmark Composite Index fell 1.9 percent, or 51.32 points, to 2,688.38 yesterday, while the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index, where Shenzhen Hepalink is traded, dropped 2.2 percent to 1,064.17.
The Shanghai index lost 6.3 percent for the week following a huge sell-off in Wall Street because of fears the Greek debt crisis could spread in Europe.
Mindful of problems in 2008 when contaminated heparin imported from other Chinese companies was linked to hundreds of life-threatening allergic reactions and at least three deaths, Shenzhen Hepalink has made safety a top selling point. The company’s products are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and regulators in other key major markets.
Shenzhen Hepalink’s strong debut was a windfall for Goldman Sachs, which invested US$4.9 million in a 12.5 percent stake in the company in 2007.
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