China’s Tianqi Lithium Seen Launching $2bn Hong Kong Listing

Tianqi operates the Greenbushes mine in Western Australia, plus the Cuola mine in Sichuan province. Photo: Tianqi.

China’s Tianqi Lithium Corp plans to open its books on Thursday – June 30 – for a listing in Hong Kong that could raise $1 to 2 billion, sources have revealed.

The company is one of the world’s top producers of lithium for electric vehicle batteries with mines in China and Australia, plus production facilities on the mainland and a facility south of Perth in Western Australia.

It plans to sell about 164 million shares for between HK$69 to HK$82 ($8.80-$10.45), two sources with direct knowledge of the listing said.

That would make Tianqi’s listing the city’s largest share sale in 2022, one said.

If a 15% greenshoe, or over-allotment option, is exercised, the company, currently listed in Shenzhen, could raise between $1.66 and $1.97 billion, they said.

Tianqi plans to open the books from Thursday to July 6, and debut in Hong Kong on July 13, the first source said. The sources could not be named as the information was not yet public.

Tianqi did not immediately respond to a request for comment

Tianqi’s float will help revive Hong Kong’s banking market with the city’s deal volumes flattened by volatile global financial markets.

There has been just $2.2 billion worth of initial public offerings and secondary listings in Hong Kong so far this year, down from $30.27 billion at the same time in 2021, according to Refinitiv data.

Tianqi, which is based in Chengdu, announced on Tuesday it had signed a contract to sell lithium to LG Chem Ltd.

• Reuters with additional editing by Jim Pollard