Ascentage Pharma drops most in nearly 2-yrs on $70 mln discounted share sale

Ascentage Pharma International

18/01/2023 04:57

** Shares of China's Ascentage Pharma Group International
 6855.HK  drop as much as 12.5% to HK$23.75; on course for the
biggest daily pct decline since Feb. 2021 if losses hold
    ** Stock sinks to its lowest since Dec. 29 on the second
session of decline; second-biggest pct decliner in Hang Seng
Composite Index  .HSCI  
    ** Jiangsu-based company, which develops novel therapies for
cancers and chronic hepatitis B, plans sale of 22.5 mln new
shares to major shareholder, Ascentage Ltd, raising HK$550.1 mln
($70.31 mln) for clinical trials of key product candidates 
    ** New shares to be issued at HK$24.45 apiece, or at a 9.9%
discount, to Tuesday's close of HK$27.15 each
    ** Says major shareholder to buy new shares after sale of
the same amount of existing shares at the same price to
third-party investors
    ** The Hang Seng Commerce & Industry Index  .HSNC  slips
0.01% and the healthcare index  .HSCIH  falls 1.1%
    ** The Hang Seng Composite Index  .HSCI  and the Hang Seng
Index  .HSI  both ease 0.1%
($1 = 7.8242 Hong Kong dollars)
 (Reporting by Donny Kwok)
 ((donny.kwok@thomsonreuters.com))