HONG KONG, Sept. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- China
Cord Blood Corporation (NYSE: CO) ("CCBC" or the "Company"), the
first and largest cord blood banking operator in China and Golden Meditech Holdings Limited
("Golden Meditech", 801.HK; 910801.TW), a leading integrated
healthcare enterprise in China
announced that they entered into agreements under which Golden
Meditech, is expected to invest $50
million into CCBC to support its further business expansion
and to capitalize on China's
fast-growing healthcare services industry.
The convertible note carries a 7% interest per annum and a total
rate of return of 12% per annum. The convertible note holder can
convert the convertible note into ordinary shares of the Company at
a conversion price of $2.838.
The total ordinary shares issuable represents approximately
15.5% of the enlarged share capital of the Company.
With the demand for cord blood banking services flourishing and
the number of new subscribers continuing to rise, the additional
capital will pave the way for CCBC to seize market opportunities
and bring premium cord blood banking services to even wider public
in China and any other untapped
markets. CCBC is actively pursuing its China expansion strategy by building new
storage facilities in Guangdong
and establishing storage facility to service the Zhejiang market. The added capital
infusion increases the Company's war chest to enable deeper and
more rapid penetration into these regional markets, and be better
prepared to pursue other opportunities as they
arise.
Upon completion of the transaction, Mr. Yuen Kam, will be
appointed as Chairman of CCBC and Ms. Ting Zheng will continue her
role as the Chief Executive Officer of CCBC. Mr. Yuen Kam is
currently the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Golden
Meditech and has extensive experience in the healthcare industry of
China.
"Golden Meditech has long been the largest shareholder of CCBC
and currently holds 41.8% of CCBC. Our investment
demonstrates our strong confidence in the prospects of China's cord blood banking industry and CCBC's
market leadership," said Mr. Kam. "We believe in the
potential embedded within CCBC. In serving as the Chairman of
CCBC, I am honored to work with an experienced management
team. With my support, I envision the CEO and her team will
be able to broaden CCBC's reach so that more families can have the
opportunities to protect their love ones through CCBC's premium
healthcare services."
Ms. Ting Zheng, Chief Executive Officer of CCBC stated, "We are
glad to receive such overwhelming and valuable support from our
major shareholder who shares our vision and beliefs. We
believe that CCBC will create a brilliant future under Mr. Kam's
leadership and extensive experience in the healthcare
industry."
In connection with the transaction, the Company has agreed to
file a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange
Commission with respect to the ordinary shares issuable upon
conversion. Cowen and Company (Asia) Limited has delivered an opinion to the
board of directors of the Company as to the fairness of the
consideration to be received by the Company for the convertible
note. The opinion analyzes fairness from a financial point of
view and is based on the principal economic terms of the
convertible note.
For further details of the transaction, please refer to CCBC's
Report on Form 6-K filed with the US Securities and Exchange
Commission, which contains copies of the related documents and is
available at http://www.sec.gov.
Joint Conference Call
China Cord Blood Corporation and Golden Meditech will host a
joint conference call at 8:00 a.m. ET
/ 8:00 p.m. HKT on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 to give a brief
overview of the Company's developments and the recent investment
agreements with Golden Meditech, followed by a question and answer
session. Interested parties may access the audio webcast
through the Company's IR website at
http://ir.chinacordbloodcorp.com. A replay of the webcast
will be accessible two hours after the presentation and available
for three weeks at the same URL link above. Listeners may
also access the call by dialing 1-718-354-1231 or 1-866-519-4004
for US callers or +852-2475-0994 for Hong
Kong callers, access code: 30636251.
About China Cord Blood Corporation
China Cord Blood Corporation is the first and largest umbilical
cord blood banking operator in China in terms of geographical coverage and
the only cord blood banking operator with multiple licenses.
Under current PRC government regulations, only one licensed cord
blood banking operator is permitted to operate in each licensed
region and only seven licenses have been authorized as of
today. China Cord Blood Corporation provides cord blood
collection, laboratory testing, hematopoietic stem cell processing
and stem cell storage services. For more information, please
visit the Company's website at
http://www.chinacordbloodcorp.com.
About Golden Meditech Holdings Limited
Golden Meditech Holdings Limited (http://www.goldenmeditech.com)
is China's leading
integrated-healthcare enterprise. Golden Meditech is a first-mover
in China, having established
dominant positions in medical devices and healthcare services
markets, thanks to its strengths in innovation and market expertise
and the ability to capture emerging market opportunities. Going
forward, the group will continue to pursue a leading position in
China's healthcare industry both
through organic growth and strategic expansion.
For more information, please contact:
China Cord Blood Corporation
Investor Relations Department
Email: ir@chinacordbloodcorp.com
ICR, Inc.
Mr. Rob Koepp
Tel: (+86) 10-6583-7516 or (646) 405-5185
Email: robert.koepp@icrinc.com
Golden Meditech Holdings Limited
Investor Relations Department
Email: ir@goldenmeditech.com
SOURCE China Cord Blood Corporation