Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) is aiming to raise at least HK$31.01 billion ($3.99 billion) in its Hong Kong listing, according to its prospectus filed on Monday.
The electric vehicle battery maker is selling 117.9 million shares at a maximum offer price of HK$263 per share, filings lodged with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange showed.
That would make CATL’s listing the largest globally so far in 2025, according to Dealogic data, beating JX Advanced Metal’s $3 billion IPO in Tokyo in March.
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In Hong Kong, the share sale will be the largest since Midea Group raised $4.6 billion last year.
The size of the deal could further increase to about $5.3 billion if an offer size adjustment option and a so-called greenshoe option are exercised.
The prospectus showed more than 20 cornerstone investors, led by Chinese oil producer Sinopec and Kuwait Investment Authority, have subscribed to buy about $2.62 billion worth of CATL shares.
The order book for the institutional tranche of 109.1 million shares has already been covered with demand from investors, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
CATL’s shares in Shenzhen rose 3.5% on Monday after the Hong Kong deal was launched, reaching a six-week high. The gain outpaced a 1.16% lift in China’s blue-chip CSI300 index.
Proceeds for European battery-making plans
The offer size adjustment option means the number of shares could be increased by up to 17.7 million shares to raise up to an additional HK$4.65 billion ($598 million). There is a greenshoe option to sell a further up to 17.7 million shares.
The shares are due to price between Tuesday and Friday, with the final price to be announced on or before May 19, the filings showed.
There will be 8.8 million shares available for Hong Kong’s retail investors to bid for, the prospectus showed.
The company said about 90% of the proceeds raised, about HK$27.6 billion, would be spent on the construction of a factory in Hungary, part of its plan to make batteries in Europe for automakers such as BMW, Stellantis and Volkswagen.
The first phase of the factory, in which it is investing 2.7 billion euros ($3.03 billion), is due to start producing batteries this year. It aims to begin construction on the second phase later this year.
CATL’s Hong Kong shares will be sold at a small discount to the Shenzhen stock’s closing price on Friday if the shares price at HK$263 each. They are due to start trading on May 20.
The prospectus said CATL was granted a Hong Kong Stock Exchange waiver to not publish a minimum price the shares could be sold at, as it could impact trading of its Shenzhen-listed stock.
Some US investors at bay
US onshore investors will not be able to buy CATL shares in the Hong Kong deal, the filings showed, but many of those funds have offshore operations that would be able to participate.
The company was, in January, placed on a US Defense Department list of Chinese companies that are believed to be working with China’s military. CATL said in its prospectus it was working with the US department to address the ‘false designation’.
“It does not restrict us from conducting business with entities other than a small number of US governmental authorities, thus is expected to have no substantial adverse impact on our business,” it said.
CATL’s book building comes as the US and China hailed constructive talks in Geneva on the weekend towards de-escalating their trade war, but Washington’s 145% tariff on Chinese goods and Beijing’s 125% tariff on US goods remain in place till Wednesday (May 14), when they are due to be lifted for 90 days.
“Tariff policies have been rapidly evolving. Currently, we cannot accurately assess the potential impact of such policies on our business, and we will closely monitor the relevant situation,” CATL’s prospectus said.
- Reuters, with additional editing by Vishakha Saxena
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