China electric motor-vehicle maker Xpeng Motors will raise up to $2.48 billion in a follow-on share placement.
The company recently launched a $1.5 billion initial public offering in New York.
The company said Thursday it plans to sell 48 million American depositary shares in its follow-on offer. Each American depositary share will be priced at $45 apiece - roughly three times the price of its shares in August.
Xpeng could raise $2.48 billion in the transaction if it chooses to exercise an option to sell an additional 7.2 million shares. Even if it doesn't exercise the option the transaction is still set to be the largest first-time follow-on American depositary share offering by a China company this year.
Analysts said the transaction likely reflects Xpeng's intention of accelerating its development plan to better compete in the U.S. market, which is currently dominated by local manufacturers such as Tesla.
"The Chinese Tesla challengers, after having raised additional funds, will be better placed to enhance their research and development capabilities and to improve their marketing strategies, as they pursue a bigger market share," analysts said.
Competing China automaker Li Auto last week said that it planned to raise as much as $1.6 billion by issuing an additional 47 million ADSs in New York.
Demand for technology stocks, including those issued by China automakers, has increased over the past few months. The demand has raised the values of U.S.-listed China carmakers such as Li Auto, Xpeng and Nio to new heights - catapulting them to becoming some of the largest carmakers in the world in terms of market capitalization.
Nio, considered to be China's top Tesla contender, increased its market capitalization to a record $62 billion in November. This made the company more valuable than the century-old automaker Ford Motor Co.
Xpeng's market valuation surpassed Ford at one time last month after its stock price jumped 203%. At its current price of $44.65 per share, as of Wednesday's closing, Xpeng now has the same market capitalization as Ford.
