Alibaba Health disclosed Thursday that Alibaba and Ant Financial have both entered into an agreement to buy its to-be-issued shares at HKD 7.5 (USD 0.96) apiece. The price is a discount of approximately 2.34% to the closing price of HKD 7.68 on Wednesday.
Alibaba’s wholly-owned subsidiary Ali JK will subscribe a total of 242.4 million shares while Ant Financial’s indirect wholly-owned subsidiary called Antfin will subscribe 60.6 million shares.
The new share allotments will boost Ali JK’s stake from 29.52% to 30.79% and boost Antfin’s stake from zero to 0.5%.
Alibaba Health will gain HKD 2.3 billion (USD 289.5 million) in cash from this, allowing it to repay loans, to fund ongoing business operations and expansion, and to complete previously committed investments.
Alibaba Health said in the filing with the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong that Alibaba’s participation demonstrates its continued support for the company’s development as the internet giant’s flagship vehicle to execute a data-driven healthcare strategy.
It added that Ant Financial’s participation will also deepen their cooperation.
For the year ended March 31, 2019, Alibaba Health reported RMB 5 billion (USD 723 million) in revenue, increasing 108.6% due to rapid growth of its pharmaceutical self-operated business, pharmaceutical e-commerce platform business, and consumer healthcare business.
The company’s net loss for the year was RMB 91.8 million, decreasing 15.8% year-on-year.
Alibaba Health closed at HKD 7.58 Thursday, down by 1.5% compared with the closing price on Wednesday.
Contact the writer at jingli@kr-asia.com
Editor: Nadine Freischlad
