Battery large CATL finally ends up greater than 16% on Hong Kong debut
By Tommy WANG
Hong Kong (AFP) Could 20, 2025
Chinese language battery large CATL ended its first day on the Hong Kong Inventory Alternate greater than 16 % greater Tuesday, having raised US$4.6 billion on the planet’s largest preliminary public providing this 12 months.
A worldwide chief within the sector, CATL produces greater than a 3rd of all electrical car (EV) batteries offered worldwide.
The agency has been buoyed by a fast development in China’s home electrical car sector and it now works with main manufacturers together with Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen.
Nonetheless, it has additionally discovered itself within the crossfire of a superpower conflict between Washington and Beijing for tech dominance, with Washington placing it on a blacklist naming it as a army firm.
The agency is already traded within the southern Chinese language metropolis of Shenzhen, and its plan for a secondary itemizing in Hong Kong was introduced in December.
In morning buying and selling its Hong Kong shares hit a excessive of HK$311.40 (US$39.92), up 18.4 % from its itemizing worth of HK$263.00.
The inventory closed at HK$306.20.
“This itemizing signifies our deeper integration into the worldwide capital markets and marks a brand new milestone in our mission to drive the worldwide zero-carbon economic system,” CATL’s founder and chairman Robin Zeng mentioned on the agency’s itemizing ceremony on Tuesday.
The raised funds might be used to speed up its abroad growth, together with constructing its second European manufacturing unit in Hungary after launching its first in Germany in January 2023.
The sturdy curiosity within the firm’s shares come even because it comes underneath the highlight in the US.
In an inventory issued in January by the US Protection Division, CATL was designated as a “Chinese language army firm”.
The US Home Choose Committee on the Chinese language Communist Get together highlighted this inclusion in letters to 2 Wall Road banks in April, urging them to withdraw from the IPO deal over its alleged hyperlinks to the army.
However the banks — JPMorgan and Financial institution of America — stay onboard.
– Hong Kong IPO aim –
Beijing has denounced the listing as “suppression”, whereas CATL denied participating “in any army associated actions”.
CATL additionally mentioned in Could filings it was “proactively participating” with the Pentagon to “deal with the false designation”.
Based in 2011 within the jap Chinese language metropolis of Ningde, the corporate has been given sturdy monetary help from Beijing, which has sought lately to shore up home power in sure strategic high-tech sectors.
It has additionally weathered a fierce worth struggle in China’s expansive EV sector that has put smaller corporations underneath big strain to compete whereas remaining financially viable.
Tuesday’s blockbuster itemizing can be a boon for Hong Kong’s inventory alternate, which is keen for the return of big-name Chinese language listings because it seems to be to regain its crown because the world’s high venue for IPOs.
The Chinese language finance hub noticed a gradual decline in new choices after Beijing’s regulatory crackdown beginning in 2020 led some mainland mega-companies to place their plans on maintain, whereas a strict safety legislation added to the uncertainty for firms seeking to listing.
Information from the Hong Kong Inventory Alternate reveals it’s processing dozens of functions from Chinese language firms this 12 months.
Analysts mentioned Tuesday’s IPO showcases Hong Kong’s position as a spot for Chinese language firms to boost capital.
“We’re additionally seeing a rising demand on portfolio diversification away from US dollar-denominated belongings, underscored by the current power within the Hong Kong greenback,” Jason Lui, head of APAC fairness and by-product technique at BNP Paribas, informed AFP.
bur-oho-twa/mtp
Associated Hyperlinks
