China Battery Firm CATL Seen Eyeing $5bn Swiss Listing Boost

 

Chinese battery-making giant CATL is looking to raise at least $5 billion by listing global depositary receipts in Switzerland, sources claim.

The size of the deal, which could happen as early as May, could increase to $8 billion if financial market conditions improved before the deal is launched, the sources added.

The exact size and timing of the deal is subject to financial market conditions and CATL – Contemporary Amperex Technology Co – declined to comment on the transaction.

 

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At $5 billion, the deal will easily be the largest GDR –  shares in a foreign company but are traded locally on an exchange – by a Chinese company in Switzerland, according to Refinitiv data.

Nine Chinese companies raised $3.3 billion in 2022 in Switzerland, the data showed.

CATL, which supplies automakers including Tesla, Volkswagen, BMW and Nio, in June last year raised $6.7 billion in a private placement which was one of the world’s largest equity capital market transactions for 2022.

The company plans to use the proceeds raised in the Swiss GDR to fund its European expansion plans, especially the development of a plant in Hungary, one of the sources said.

CATL said in August it will build a $7.6 billion battery plant in Hungary, Europe’s largest so far, as the world’s biggest electric vehicle battery maker gears up to meet growing demand from global automakers.

 

• Reuters with additional editing by Sean O’Meara

 

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