Haohai Biological Lists on Shanghai's Star Market

Haohai Biological Technology (06826.HK) ("Haohai Biological"), a biomedical materials producer, has listed on Shanghai's Star market. Its shares opened at 149.30 yuan each, up 67.32% from its initial share price of 89.23 yuan. The initial share price is the highest so far for the sci-tech Star market. Haohai Biological is also the first company to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's new board with the involvement of a foreign investment bank.

Haohai Biological will issue up to 17.8 million shares, to raise 1.529 billion yuan. Proceeds will be used for the research and development of products and expand the production of present products such as medical sodium hyaluronate, medical chitosan, to meet the increasing market demand. 

Haohai Biological is a leading company in China focusing on R&D, manufacturing, and sales of biomedical materials. It strategically targets the fast-growing therapeutic areas in the biomedical materials market including ophthalmology, medical aesthetics, and wound healing, orthopedics, and anti-adhesion and hemostasis. The company currently manufactures intraocular lens (IOL), medical sodium hyaluronate, medical chitosan, medical collage sponge, etc. 

Based on the sales volume of its IOL and the number of national cataract surgery cases, Haohai Biological has captured about 30% of the IOL market in the PRC. Meanwhile, the market share of the company’s anti-adhesion products, OVD products, and orthopedics viscosupplementation products was 49.05%, 45.93%, and 36.21%, respectively. 

UBS Securities is the offering's underwriter and was allocated shares as a strategic investor, evidence of China's recent commitment to opening up its capital markets to overseas investors.

Established in 2006, UBS Securities is a Chinese investment bank and brokerage firm affiliated to Swiss investment bank UBS, which was the second-largest shareholder for a 24.99% stake (or the third if considering central government-owned China Guodian and COFCO Group were one entity). 

UBS Securities was the underwriter of BYD Company, Pang Da Automobile Trade and other publicly traded companies in their IPO.