(Bloomberg) -- Hillhouse Capital plans to invest $1 billion in Chinese biotechnology company Beigene Ltd., said people with knowledge of the matter, in the largest equity financing ever by a biotech company.

After the investment, Hillhouse’s stake in Beigene will increase to about 12.6% from its current 7.5%, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. An announcement with details of the investment by the Asian private equity firm could be made as early as Tuesday, the people said.

Hillhouse acted as the anchor investor for the $2.1 billion direct offering of 145.8 million ordinary shares to fund drug research and market its treatments in the U.S. and China, the people said. The shares were priced at $14.23, or $185 per U.S. share, which is worth 13 ordinary shares, the Nasdaq-listed company said on Monday. Beigene shares rose 8.7% to $213.01 Monday in New York.

The share sale is the largest biotech equity financing, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It’s expected to close on Wednesday, the company said.

Representatives for Hillhouse and Beigene declined to comment.

Other buyers in the share sale include existing shareholders such as investment firm Baker Bros. Advisors LP and American drugmaker Amgen Inc., which last year had purchased a 20.5% stake in Beigene for $2.7 billion to jointly develop cancer therapies.

The share sale follows the Beijing-based company’s blood cancer therapy becoming the first Chinese cancer drug to receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last November. The approval positioned Beigene as one of the most promising Chinese biotech companies taking on the world’s biggest pharmaceutical firms in medical innovation and scientific research.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.