WuXi AppTec Shares Dive on Shareholders’ Plan to Pare Stake

WuXi AppTec Shares Dive on Shareholders’ Plan to Pare Stake

Chinese biotech company WuXi AppTec Co. dived Monday after shareholders unveiled plans to sell up to 65 million shares.

Shares hit their 10% daily downside limit in Shanghai, while those in Hong Kong were 9.1% lower.

The selloff came after WuXi AppTec, one of China’s largest biotech companies, said late Friday that a group of shareholders controlled by and acting in concert with the company’s de facto controller plans to dispose of an up to 2.2% stake. The selling shareholders currently hold a combined 24.07% stake.

WuXi said the disposal, expected from December, is due to the shareholders’ own capital needs.

In June, the same group of shareholders said they will sell an up to 3% stake, sending WuXi’s Shanghai-listed shares tumbling 9.6% in one day. Its Hong Kong stock plummeted 11% in the session following the disposal plans.

WuXi’s shares have lost 48% and 37% in Hong Kong and Shanghai, respectively, so far this year. But the stock has regained some ground in recent weeks. Before Monday’s drop, its Hong Kong shares were 23% higher in November, while the Shanghai-listed stock rose 7.3% in the same period.

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