Battery big CATL finally ends up greater than 16% on Hong Kong debut
By Tommy WANG
Hong Kong (AFP) Might 20, 2025
Chinese language battery big CATL ended its first day on the Hong Kong Inventory Alternate greater than 16 % increased Tuesday, having raised US$4.6 billion on the earth’s greatest preliminary public providing this 12 months.
A worldwide chief within the sector, CATL produces greater than a 3rd of all electrical automobile (EV) batteries bought worldwide.
The agency has been buoyed by a speedy development in China’s home electrical automobile sector and it now works with main manufacturers together with Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen.
Nevertheless, 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 navy 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 value 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 financial system,” CATL’s founder and chairman Robin Zeng stated on the agency’s itemizing ceremony on Tuesday.
The raised funds could possibly be used to speed up its abroad enlargement, 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 a listing issued in January by the US Protection Division, CATL was designated as a “Chinese language navy firm”.
The US Home Choose Committee on the Chinese language Communist Celebration 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 navy.
However the banks — JPMorgan and Financial institution of America — stay onboard.
– Hong Kong IPO objective –
Beijing has denounced the record as “suppression”, whereas CATL denied participating “in any navy associated actions”.
CATL additionally stated in Might filings it was “proactively participating” with the Pentagon to “tackle the false designation”.
Based in 2011 within the japanese 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 value warfare in China’s expansive EV sector that has put smaller companies underneath enormous stress to compete whereas remaining financially viable.
Tuesday’s blockbuster itemizing can be a boon for Hong Kong’s inventory change, which is raring for the return of big-name Chinese language listings because it appears to be like 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 regulation added to the uncertainty for corporations trying to record.
Information from the Hong Kong Inventory Alternate exhibits it’s processing dozens of purposes from Chinese language corporations this 12 months.
Analysts stated Tuesday’s IPO showcases Hong Kong’s position as a spot for Chinese language corporations to boost capital.
“We’re additionally seeing a rising demand on portfolio diversification away from US dollar-denominated property, underscored by the current power within the Hong Kong greenback,” Jason Lui, head of APAC fairness and spinoff technique at BNP Paribas, advised AFP.
bur-oho-twa/mtp
Associated Hyperlinks
Trending Merchandise
