Wuhan Asia Heart Hospital Weighs Hong Kong IPO Next Year

(Bloomberg) -- Wuhan Asia Heart Hospital, a private health-care services group, is planning a Hong Kong initial public offering that could raise a few hundred million dollars, according to people familiar with the matter.

The group is working with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley on the proposed offering, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. An IPO could take place as soon as next year, they said.

Details of the offering such as fundraising amount and size are still preliminary and subject to change, the people added. Representatives for JPMorgan and Wuhan Asia Heart Hospital declined to comment. A representative for Morgan Stanley couldn’t immediately comment.

Since reforming its listing rules in 2018 to allow pre-revenue biotechnology companies, Hong Kong has become a busy venue for health-care IPOs. The trend picked up last year as the health-care sector became a pandemic winner for investors given the spreading coronavirus pandemic.

This year has seen even more IPOs from the health-care space, with $7.4 billion raised so far in Hong Kong, the most on record, data compiled by Bloomberg show. However, performance has been patchy as investors have shied away from deals amid a broader market downturn. Health-care and biotech listings in Hong Kong this year have dropped an average of 15.5% from their IPO prices, the data show.

Wuhan Asia runs facilities including a cardiovascular specialist hospital of the same name, which was founded in 1999, according to its website. The hospital has 750 open beds and sees an average of more than 29,000 cases a year. General Atlantic invested $150 million in the group in 2018, according to a press release at the time. 

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