(Yicai) June 25 -- Fosun Pharmaceutical Group has inked a deal with Henlius Biotech to buy the rest of the Hong Kong-listed firm it does not already own, taking it private at a cost of HKD5.4 billion (USD692 million) in cash and/or shares. The stock of both companies climbed.

Fosun Pharma [HKG: 2196] ended 3.4 percent higher at HKD13.30 (USD1.70) in Hong Kong today, while its Shanghai-listed stock [SHA: 600196] gained 0.8 percent to CNY22.08 (USD3.04). Henlius [HKG: 2696] surged 19.4 percent to finish at HKD22.50 (USD2.88).

To fully acquire Henlius, Fosun Pharma will pay HKD24.60 per share, a 37 percent premium on its May 21 closing price of HKD18, the Shanghai-based buyer said yesterday.

That was likely the last day that trading in Henlius was unaffected by the buyout offer, the firm said. It is also 52 percent higher than the average for Henlius over the previous 30 trading days. Trading of the stock was halted on May 23.

Explaining the move, Fosun Pharma said “the listing status of the company no longer provides meaningful access to capital and imposes additional costs on Henlius.”

Fosun Pharma, which is part of Chinese conglomerate Fosun International, already owns almost 60 percent of Henlius through majority-owned Fosun New Drug, Fosun Pharmaceutical Industry, and Fosun Industrial. Following the deal, it will also fully acquire Fosun New Drug through the other two units, the firm added.

Set up in 2010, Henlius develops, makes, and sells monoclonal antibody drugs and provides related technical services. The company turned its first annual profit of CNY546 million (USD75.2 million) last year on revenue of CNY5.4 billion (USD744.1 million). Its market capitalization was about HKD10.2 billion (USD1.3 billion) as of May 22.

Fosun Pharma's majority-owned unit Fosun Pharma Singapore sold 9.9 million shares in Gland Pharma for INR17.5 billion (USD209.6 million), tax included, its parent company announced on June 19. It remains the Indian firm's controlling shareholder with an about 52 percent stake.

Editor: Martin Kadiev