China battery giant CATL’s Hong Kong listing plan gathers steam
by AFP Staff Writers
Hong Kong (AFP) Jan 14, 2025
Chinese electric vehicle battery giant CATL is pushing ahead with plans to list in Hong Kong, with banks reportedly vying for a deal expected to raise at least $5 billion.
CATL, which produces more than a third of the EV batteries sold worldwide, said it plans to “seek a listing on the Main Board of Hong Kong Stock Exchange” in a bid to expand globally and support energy transition.
“This move is primarily aimed at creating an international financing platform to better support our global business development,” the firm told AFP on Tuesday.
“We have sufficient cash and funding for our overall business, and building up an international financing platform will be a strategic arrangement, which is in line with other globalised companies.”
CATL is publicly traded in Shenzhen and its plans for a secondary listing in Hong Kong were announced in an exchange filing last month.
Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, China International Capital Corporation and CSC Financial Corporation are poised to be the lead arrangers for the deal, Bloomberg News reported this week.
Other banks are likely to be added for a listing that could happen as soon as the first half of this year, which could raise at least $5 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Founded in 2011 in the eastern coastal Chinese city of Ningde, CATL has grown into the world’s largest EV battery maker and supplies firms including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda and Hyundai.
Last week, the US Department of Defense added CATL to a list of companies it says are affiliated with Beijing’s military.
China has denounced the move as “suppression” while CATL said the company is “not engaged in any military related activities”.
CATL’s Shenzhen shares rose 3.8 percent on Tuesday but were still down nearly four percent since the start of the year.
Hong Kong’s stock exchange is eager for the return of big-name Chinese listings in hopes of regaining its crown as the world’s top IPO venue.
The Chinese finance hub has suffered a steady decline in new offerings since a regulatory crackdown by Beijing starting in 2020 led some Chinese mega-companies to put their plans on hold.
A bumper listing by Chinese electronic appliance maker Midea worth $4 billion last year may signal a turnaround, analysts say.
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