Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL), the world's largest producer of electric vehicle batteries, is targeting at least HK$31.01 billion ($3.99 billion) in its upcoming Hong Kong listing, the largest new share sale in the city so far this year. The company filed its prospectus Monday, confirming it will offer 117.9 million shares at a maximum price of HK$263 each, with trading scheduled to begin on May 20.
The offering includes options to expand the deal to approximately $5.3 billion if both the greenshoe and offer size adjustment options are exercised. A group of over 20 cornerstone investors - including Sinopec and the Kuwait Investment Authority - have committed to purchasing around $2.62 billion of the offering, according to the prospectus.
Shares will be allocated with 109.1 million to institutional investors and 8.8 million reserved for Hong Kong retail investors. The final pricing is expected on or before May 19. The deal follows Midea Group's $4.6 billion offering last year, which currently holds the top spot for Hong Kong's largest recent listing.
CATL's Hong Kong shares will trade at a slight discount to its Shenzhen-listed stock if priced at the top of the indicated range. The firm obtained a waiver from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to avoid disclosing a minimum offer price, citing potential disruptions to its domestic market shares.
Founded in 2011 in Ningde, China, CATL supplies more than one-third of the world's EV batteries and counts Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volkswagen among its clients. The company reported a 32.9% rise in net profit in Q1 2025, even as China's EV market cools due to broader economic slowdown and an intensifying price war.
The funds raised are expected to support the firm's ongoing global expansion. CATL is building a second factory in Hungary after launching operations in Germany in 2023. In December, the firm announced a $4.3 billion joint battery venture with Stellantis in Spain, with production expected to begin in 2026.
However, U.S. investors will be barred from participating directly in the Hong Kong offering due to CATL's designation earlier this year on the U.S. Defense Department's list of Chinese companies linked to China's military. CATL said in its filing, "It does not restrict us from conducting business with entities other than a small number of U.S. governmental authorities, thus is expected to have no substantial adverse impact on our business."
The company's exposure to the U.S. market remains limited. Under the Biden administration, Chinese battery makers were excluded from EV subsidy schemes. In response, CATL has relied on licensing its technology to U.S. partners like Ford and Tesla rather than directly building facilities.
