SINGAPORE – Mainboard-listed Tianjin Zhong Xin Pharmaceutical Group has proposed for the second time to dispose of two of its non-core Western-medicine businesses worth S$54.4 million.

The company said in a press release yesterday that the proceeds from the sale will be used to strengthen its core Chinese medicine business.

In the proposed deal, the company will dispose of its 51-per-cent stake in Tianjin Central Pharmaceutical to Tianjin Lisheng Pharmaceutical for about S$50.6 million. It will also sell its 10.01-per-cent shares in Tianjin Jinkang Pharmaceutical for approximately S$3.8 million to the Tianjin Pharmaceutical Group.

Tianjin Zhong Xin also said it has entered into a sale-and-purchase agreement with the Tianjin Pharmaceutical Group to acquire a 40-per-cent stake in Tianjin Hongrentang Pharmaceutical for about S$42.2 million.

Tianjin Zhong Xin had proposed the two disposals in September and October last year but met with resistance from its shareholders.

The proposal was subsequently rejected at the company’s extraordinary general meeting in December last year.

The company said the sale remains part of its strategic plan to unwind some of its non-core businesses and convert them into cash to focus its resources on the group’s core business.

Tianjin Zhong Xin manufactures and sells Chinese medicinal products, while both Tianjin Central and Tianjin Jinkang are primarily involved in the manufacturing and sale of Western medicinal products.