EV battery giant CATL lists in Hong Kong, marking largest IPO in years

HONG KONG, May 20 (Xinhua) — Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) on Tuesday listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with shares surging over 10 percent at market opening.

CATL announced allocation results showing that, before the exercise of the overallotment option, the Hong Kong public offering was oversubscribed by about 150.2 times, raising a total of approximately 35.66 billion HK dollars (4.55 billion U.S. dollars), with net proceeds of 35.33 billion HK dollars after deducting listing expenses.

On its listing day, CATL opened at 296 HK dollars, rising 12.55 percent from its offering price of 263 HK dollars. By midday, it traded at 307.6 HK dollars, up 16.96 percent, with a turnover exceeding 5.7 billion HK dollars.

Paul Chan, financial secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, said at the listing ceremony that CATL’s listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange can accelerate its global strategic expansion.

Leveraging Hong Kong financing to support international growth is set to be a trend for mainland enterprises in export development, marking a new milestone in Hong Kong’s role in serving national development strategies, Chan added.

Bonnie Chan, chief executive officer of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), said that in terms of funds raised, CATL’s IPO is the largest in Hong Kong in recent years and the biggest globally so far this year. This demonstrated the depth of the Hong Kong market and its solid fundamentals in supporting large-scale financing projects.

CATL is an innovative new energy technology company, primarily engaged in the research, development, production, and sales of EV batteries and energy storage system batteries. It is already listed on the A-share market. (1 U.S. dollar equals 7.82 HK dollars)