'Strong investor demand' for Hyphens Pharma; public offer 152 times subscribed

HYPHENS Pharma International announced that it had received "strong interest" from investors for its initial public offering (IPO) in conjunction with its Catalist listing.

As at the close of applications at noon on May 16, it had received 4,800 valid applications for the three million invitation shares made available under the public offer.

It had received application monies totalling some S$118.5 million, translating to the public offer being 152 times subscribed.

Of the 23.79 million placement shares available - excluding reserved shares - the company received indications of interest for 324.7 million placement shares worth S$84.4 million.

The valid acceptances for the reserved shares resulted in all 2.81 million reserved shares being allocated.

Three cornerstone investors - Nikko Asset Management Asia Limited, Qilin Asset Management and Maxi-Harvest Group - have each entered into a cornerstone subscription agreement for an aggregate 30.4 million new shares at S$0.26 apiece, the invitation price, for a total of S$7.9 million.

DBS is the sponsor and issue manager for Hyphens.

"We are encouraged by the strong response for our IPO, which is a clear signal of investors' confidence in the group's strong track record and network, our portfolio of internationally well-known speciality pharmaceutical products as well as proprietary range of products and brands," said Hyphens Pharma's chairman, executive director and chief executive Lim See Wah.

"With the success of our IPO, we are well-placed to expand and strengthen our product range and maintain growth momentum through scaling our presence in markets that we operate in and expanding into new geographical markets," Mr Lim added.

The group intends to put the S$13.5 million in proceeds raised towards potential acquisitions, joint ventures, product development and research and development collaborations, setting up of the group's integrated facility and general corporate and working capital purposes.

Hyphens Pharma's shares will commence trading at 9 am on May 18 on the Catalist.