Since April 30, 2014, Cordlife has been jointly working
with StemLife to develop cord lining banking services in
Malaysia. This close collaboration between StemLife and
Cordlife is expected to contribute positively to the Group’s
business as our scope of products and services can be
introduced to StemLife’s offices in Malaysia and Thailand.
China has always been a key market for us. Since 2012,
Cordlife has been a shareholder of CCBC with a 9.13% stake
to gain exposure in the Chinese market. We partnered with
Cordlabs Asia to sub-license the cord lining technology to
CCBC to generate recurring royalty income. Subsequent to
that, the Group completed the acquisition of a convertible
note issued by CCBC for approximately US$44 million in
November 2014.
In May 2015, we announced our conditional purchase
agreement with Golden Meditech, which Cordlife agreed to
sell and Golden Meditech agreed to purchase from Cordlife
7,314,015 ordinary shares in CCBC and a 7% senior unsecured
convertible note due October 3, 2017 issued by CCBC to
Cordlife in the principal amount of US$25 million (the
“Proposed Disposal”). The Proposed Disposal allows Cordlife
to realise value in its investment in CCBC at a net gain of
approximately S$31.7 million based on the Group’s 3Q 2015
results
1
. The proceeds from the Proposed Disposal may be
used for the Group’s future business expansion, and/or be
used to deleverage the financial position of the Group and/or
for distribution to shareholders.
At our Extraordinary General Meeting (“EGM”) held on
September 14, 2015, Cordlife’s shareholders approved
the Proposed Disposal. The completion of the disposal is
conditional on Golden Meditech obtaining the approval of
its shareholders at an EGM to be held at a later date.
Looking ahead, Cordlife will continue to explore other
opportunities in China either through collaboration with
leading research hospitals or mergers and acquisitions, in
addition to our existing partnership with CCBC. Our aim is
to work closely with other key Chinese partners to develop
a pan-China strategy to extend our products and services to
more families in the country.
ADVANCING THE SCOPE OF OUR PRODUCTS AND
SERVICES
As a consumer healthcare company, we are always actively
seeking opportunities to widen our service and product
offerings for families, with a focus on the mother and
child segment.
Cord lining banking service was launched in Indonesia
in September 2014. This completes the footprint of the
service to all countries where we operate in. We signed a
sub-licensing agreement with CCBC and StemLife to avail
cord lining banking services to their client base.
On the progress of our Diagnostics unit, we have successfully
launched Metascreen, an advanced non-invasive metabolic
screening service designed for newborn babies, in Cordlife
territories. This screening service is essential for parents
looking for a more comprehensive screening of metabolic
disorders for their newborns. Plans are underway to
introduce Metascreen to other markets progressively in the
coming year.
13
CORDLIFE GROUP LIMITED
| ANNUAL REPORT 2015
CEO’S
MESSAGE
