(Yicai Global) Sept. 19 -- Shares in China Biologic Products Holdings, which researches and produces plasma-based biopharmaceuticals, surged in after-hours trading on the Nasdaq after a group of buyers put forward a USD4.59 billion privatization offer.

Beachhead Holdings, CITIC Capital China Partners IV, PW Medtech Group, Parfield International, HH Sum-XXII Holdings and V-Sciences Investments have proposed to join hands to buy the Beijing-based firm for USD120 a share, the target company said in a statement after the market closed yesterday.

China Biologics' share price [NASDAQ:CBPO] rose 0.4 percent yesterday, but has surged nearly 6.7 percent in after-hours trading, sitting at USD110 as of 6.45 p.m. Eastern Time.

The buyout group said the offer is a very attractive one for China Biologic's shareholders, representing a 16.8 percent premium on yesterday's closing price and a premium of 21.1 percent and 23.9 percent on the volume-weighted average price over the past 30 and 60 trading days.

China Biologic, which was founded in 2002 and went public in 2009, has not yet made a decision on the matter, its statement said. The company rejected two offers in August last year, one from a group led by former Chairman Gao Xiaoying offering USD118 a share, and another from CITIC Capital offering USD110 a share.

The target, mainly via subsidiary Shandong Taibang Biological Products, is the largest plasma product maker in China and produces albumin, immunoglobulin and clotting factors. It made up 18 percent of the national blood products industry last year, when it boosted its net profit by 88.5 percent to USD128 million as revenue rose by 26 percent to USD467 million.

Editor: James Boynton