(Yicai Global) Sept. 26 -- Shares in Aier Eye Hospital Group advanced as much as 5.1 percent today after the Chinese ophthalmology hospital operator said it has secured CNY3.5 billion (USD490 million) through a private placement of new shares led by Credit Suisse’s asset management joint venture in China.

Aier Eye’s share price [SHE:300015] closed up 3 percent at CNY26.57 (USD3.72). Earlier in the day it hit CNY27.11. The stock has almost halved in value since it reached an all-time high of CNY55.47 apiece in June last year.

ICBC Credit Suisse subscribed to over CNY600 million (USD84 million) worth of new shares, Aier Eye said at the weekend. It was followed by the GF Fund, which bought more than CNY500 million worth. Other Chinese funds that participated included BOCOM Schroders and Penghua Fund Management with over CNY300 million each and brokerage Guotai Junan Securities at CNY200 million.

Six foreign institutional investors were among the 14 participants, namely Swiss lender UBS, which subscribed to CNY489 million (USD68.2 million), and several global financial services giants, namely the US’ Morgan Stanley, Australia’s Macquarie Bank, the US’ J.P. Morgan, France’s BNP Paribas and the US’ Goldman Sachs, which all went for more than CNY100 million each.

The funds will be used to boost patient capacity and supplement working capital, said Aier Eye, which runs 300 branches in China. There are seven capacity expansion projects planned which include the building of new hospitals as well as relocating and expanding several existing clinics in Shanghai, eastern Anhui province and northern Hubei province.

Funds are increasing their positions in the Changsha, central Hunan province-based eye hospital chain. Some 1,012 funds held 1.03 billion shares in Aier Eye as of March 31, according to Wind data. This was a 42 percent increase from the end of last year.

Aier Eye has long been an investor's darling and has raised CNY8.5 billion (USD1.1 billion) in one initial public offering and four private placements, including this one, since 2009.

In the first half, Aier Eye logged a 15.7 percent jump in net profit from the same period last year to CNY1.2 billion (USD168 million) while revenue advanced 10.3 percent to CNY8.1 billion (USD1.1 billion).

Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor