Anglo-Swedish drugmaker views listing a separate unit in Hong Kong as potential shelter from global strife
email rounding up the latestAstraZeneca has drawn up plans to break out its China business and list it separately in Hong Kong as a way to shelter the company against mounting geopolitical tensions.
The discussion shows the significant restructuring multinational corporations could be forced to undertake as, which is the UK’s biggest listed company by market value at £183bn, would carve off its operations in China into a separate legal entity but would retain control of the business. A person briefed on AstraZeneca’s plans said listing a separated unit in either Hong Kong or Shanghai could insulate it politically from any moves by China to crack down on foreign companies, by making it a more plausibly domestic Chinese business. It would also offer a separate source of capital.
It would not be the first time the pharmaceutical group has pursued separate financing for its China operations. In 2017, AstraZeneca created a research and development joint venture with a Chinese fund. The venture, Dizal Pharmaceutical, was listed in Shanghai two years ago.AstraZeneca is the largest overseas pharmaceutical company in China by sales, generating $1.6bn in the country in the first quarter.
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