PHARMARON Beijing Co. is planning a Hong Kong share sale only six months after the contract drugmaker went public on the mainland, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.

The Shenzhen-listed company is working with financial advisers as it prepares to sell shares in Hong Kong as soon as this year, the sources said. The listing could raise around US$500 million based on Pharmaron Beijing’s current market value, one of the people said.

Shares of Pharmaron Beijing climbed as much as 1.4 percent in early trading yesterday in Shenzhen, giving it a market capitalization of about 23 billion yuan. The stock has more than quadrupled since the company’s initial public offering in January, which raised 503 million yuan (US$73 million). The Shenzhen Stock Exchange Composite Index rose 18.2 percent over the period.

Pharmaron Beijing would follow rival WuXi AppTec Co., which also completed listings in Shanghai and Hong Kong within the same year. Health care firms have raised US$2.6 billion from Hong Kong first-time share sales in 2019, almost seven times the amount from a year earlier, after the city’s stock exchange eased its listing rules to allow unprofitable biotech firms to go public.

Deliberations are at an early stage, and details of the offering could change, the sources said.

Founded in 2004, Pharmaron Beijing offers research and development services to the life sciences industry, according to its website. It counts more than 6,000 employees with operations in China, the United States and the U.K. (SD-Agencies)