By Bingyan Wang


Shares of Wuxi Biologics (Cayman) Inc. fell after the company said a major shareholder plans to trim its stake in the biotech platform.

The Hong Kong-listed company shed as much as 5.8% Tuesday, paring year-to-date gains to 17%. It was one of the top laggards among blue chips, underperforming a 1.0% drop in the city's broader Hang Seng Index.

Wuxi Biologics said early Tuesday that shareholder Wuxi Biologics Holdings Ltd., an entity in which Wuxi Chairman Ge Li holds a majority voting stake, plans to place 56.0 million shares at 71.00 Hong Kong dollars (US$9.09) each. The placement price represented a 3.9% discount to Wuxi Biologics shares' most recent closing price of HK$73.90.

If the block sale of a 1.3% stake is completed, the shareholder's stake in Wuxi will drop to 13.82% from 15.14%, Wuxi Biologics said.

Morgan Stanley is advising on the placement.

Wuxi Biologics shares were recently 5.4% lower at HK$69.90.


Write to Bingyan Wang at bingyan.wang@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-17-23 0014ET