SINOVAC Board of Directors Alerts Shareholders to Advantech/Prime Success' New Lawsuit, Which Threatens to Prevent Payment of US$55.00 Special Dividend to All Valid Shareholders
BEIJING--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Board of Directors of SINOVAC Biotech Ltd. (NASDAQ: SVA) (' SINOVAC ' or the ' Company '), a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, today disclosed that on June 12, 2025, Advantech/Prime Success filed a Petition for Emergency Injunctive Relief against SINOVAC, et al., naming as relief parties Cede & Co., The Depository Trust Company, and Equiniti (the dividend paying agent retained by the SINOVAC Board), which may prevent the SINOVAC Board from paying the US$55.00 special dividend as scheduled on or about July 9, 2025.
We learned that Vivo Capital's counsel informed the paying agent that Vivo would challenge the dividend and asked the paying agent to withdraw from facilitating the distribution of the US$55.00 dividend declared by the SINOVAC Board to all valid shareholders.
The SINOVAC Board has an obligation to answer this Petition on behalf of all SINOVAC common shareholders to stand up to the egregious actions of Prime Success. We expect to file our Opposition Brief today at 5:00 p.m. Atlantic Standard Time, followed by a hearing on Wednesday, June 18.
We continue to be shocked by the self-serving, unnecessary actions by Advantech and Vivo Capital (together known as the 'Dissenting Investor Group') against SINOVAC, threatening the rightful dividend payment to all valid SINOVAC common shareholders. These incomprehensible actions are unacceptable to the SINOVAC Board because:
The Dissenting Investor Group has already pocketed more than US$1.1 billion in dividends from SINOVAC's operating subsidiary, while all SINOVAC's valid shareholders received nothing.
An amount equal to the aggregate amount of cash that would be payable under the US$55.00 per common share special dividend in respect of the 2018 PIPE shares has been set aside by the SINOVAC Board in an escrow account managed by an independent third party pending final resolution of the legal proceedings, which the Dissenting Investor Group initiated. Thus, there is no risk whatsoever that the Dissenting Investor Group's allocations of the dividend will not be paid if the courts ultimately decide in their favor regarding the PIPE shares.
These new actions by the Dissenting Investor Group go against their assertions of their support of the US$55.00 dividend payment in their letters to shareholders and raises the question – how can you trust anything they say in their letters or press releases?
The SINOVAC Board will continue to fight these frivolous lawsuits, all of which aim to accomplish one thing: to allow the Dissenting Investor group to double dip on dividends. We feel certain we will prevail quickly in this and other proceedings. The SINOVAC Board is on a mission to restore fairness and deliver value to ALL SINOVAC shareholders.
About SINOVAC
Sinovac Biotech Ltd. (SINOVAC) is a China-based biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the R&D, manufacturing, and commercialization of vaccines that protect against human infectious diseases.
SINOVAC's product portfolio includes vaccines against COVID-19, enterovirus 71 (EV71) infected Hand-Foot-Mouth disease (HFMD), hepatitis A, varicella, influenza, poliomyelitis, pneumococcal disease, etc.
The COVID-19 vaccine, CoronaVac®, has been approved for use in more than 60 countries and regions worldwide. The hepatitis A vaccine, Healive®, passed WHO prequalification requirements in 2017. The EV71 vaccine, Inlive®, is an innovative vaccine under "Category 1 Preventative Biological Products" and commercialized in China in 2016. In 2022, SINOVAC's Sabin-strain inactivated polio vaccine (sIPV) and varicella vaccine were prequalified by the WHO.
SINOVAC was the first company to be granted approval for its H1N1 influenza vaccine Panflu.1®, which has supplied the Chinese government's vaccination campaign and stockpiling program. The Company is also the only supplier of the H5N1 pandemic influenza vaccine, Panflu®, to the Chinese government stockpiling program.
SINOVAC continually dedicates itself to new vaccine R&D, with more combination vaccine products in its pipeline, and constantly explores global market opportunities. SINOVAC plans to conduct more extensive and in-depth trade and cooperation with additional countries, and business and industry organizations.
Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as 'may,' 'will,' 'expect,' 'anticipate,' 'aim,' 'estimate,' 'intend,' 'plan,' 'believe,' 'potential,' 'continue,' 'is/are likely to' or other similar expressions. Such statements are based upon current expectations and relate to events that involve known or unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including without limitation risks, uncertainties and factors related to the timing of filings, hearings and other litigation-related matters, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company's control, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under law.
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