DLA Piper has acted for Sinopharm, China's largest pharmaceutical company, on the HK$4bn sale of new shares, the second H share placement for Sinopharm since its HK$8bn IPO in 2009.

The sale - the fourth largest equity capital-raising in Asia this year through a private placement - saw 165.7 million shares being sold to between six and ten non-retail investors at HK$24.60 each. Sinopharm will use the net proceeds to fund the expansion of its distribution and retail network.

The team was led by Wei Liu, Managing Partner of DLA Piper in Beijing, Esther Leung, Co-head of Capital Markets and Stephen Peepels, Co-Head of Capital Markets, who were supported by Vivian Liu, Timothy Frankly, Haiye Liu and Wandy Lam, Xiao Li and Selina Li.

Wei Liu said: "This is great news for our client Sinopharm and we are delighted to have worked on such an interesting deal. It is encouraging to see deals being done in Asia and I believe we will continue to see good levels of activity across the region this year".

Esther Leung added: "We are delighted to act for our long-term client Sinopharm and work with them on the next stage of their business growth. The Chinese pharmaceutical industry is a burgeoning one and Sinopharm are well placed to benefit from this".

Morrison & Foerster also worked on the deal, with their corporate team acting for the placing agents, which included China International Capital Corporation, UBS AG and Morgan Stanley.

http://www.dlapiper.com/dla-piper-acts-for-sinopharm-on-hk4bn-hong-kong…