CANBRIDGE-B (01228) surged more than 17% during early trading this morning. At the time of writing, the stock was up 8.97%, trading at HK$3.04 with a turnover of HK$31.3053 million.

On the morning of February 16, CANBRIDGE announced plans to issue 84.0336 million new shares to a wholly-owned subsidiary of WuXi Biologics. The shares are priced at HK$2.38 each, representing a discount of approximately 14.7% compared to the closing price of HK$2.79 on February 13. This placement will account for about 14.12% of the company's total issued share capital post-enlargement.

The net proceeds from the placement are expected to reach HK$199 million. Approximately 60% of the funds will be used to settle the group's trade payables, about 28% will be allocated for research and development expenses related to the existing product pipeline, and the remaining 12% will be utilized as working capital and for registration maintenance of commercialized products.

Upon completion of the placement, WuXi Biologics' shareholding in CANBRIDGE will increase to approximately 16.27%.