China Biologic, Suitor Are in Advanced Talks on Take-Private

(Bloomberg) -- A Chinese buyout group is in advanced talks to take U.S.-listed China Biologic Products Holdings Inc. private, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Negotiations have entered their final stage, and an announcement could come as soon as in the next few weeks, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. Shares of China Biologic gained 1.8%, the most intraday since November, at 10:31 a.m. Tuesday in New York, giving the company a market value of nearly $4.5 billion.

The recent market rout, which has seen the biggest one-day slide in stocks on Wall Street since 2008, had limited impact on the negotiations so far, the people said. Discussions may still drag on longer than expected, as the coronavirus outbreak has slowed dealmaking in China and the parties are still ironing out details of the potential transaction, the people said.

The consortium includes Beachhead Holdings Ltd., which is controlled by Centurium Capital, a private equity firm founded by former Warburg Pincus partner David Li. The group in September made a preliminary non-binding offer of $120 per share for China Biologic for all the stock it doesn’t already own. The offer valued the company at about $4.6 billion. The group were in talks with banks for more than $1 billion of financing, Bloomberg News reported in November.

China Biologic has formed a special committee, which is evaluating the proposals, its chairman Joseph Chow said in a conference call with investors in November.

A representative for Centurium Capital declined to comment, while a representative for China Biologic didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The latest was at least the second attempt by the buyout group to privatize China Biologic. In 2018, it proposed to acquire the firm for $118 a share, a bid rejected by the biopharmaceutical company’s board. The consortium, which also includes Citic Capital, owned about 58% of China Biologic, according to a Sept. 19 statement. Temasek Holdings Pte had about 3.2% as of Jan. 23, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

China Biologic, which was listed in 2009, sells plasma products including albumin, immunoglobulin for intravenous injection and coagulation factor products, according to its website.

--With assistance from Dong Cao.

To contact the reporters on this story: Manuel Baigorri in Hong Kong at mbaigorri@bloomberg.net;Cathy Chan in Hong Kong at kchan14@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fion Li at fli59@bloomberg.net, Ben Scent, Matthew Monks

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