Share of Chinese battery giant CATL soars 16.4% in Hong Kong trading debut
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CATL raised US$4.6 billion in Hong Kong IPO, the largest listing in the world in 2025.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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HONG KONG - Shares of China battery giant CATL jumped 16.4 per cent over its subscription price on May 20 after the company raised US$4.6 billion (S$6 billion) in its Hong Kong initial public offering
CATL shares started trading at HK$296 each in Hong Kong after the firm sold its shares at HK$263 apiece in the listing. The stock closed at HK$306.20.
CATL, which is also listed in Shenzhen, sold 135.6 million shares in Hong Kong to raise US$4.6 billion, which was the largest listing in the city since Midea Group raised the same amount last year.
The institutional tranche of the deal was oversubscribed 15.2 times, according to CATL’s filings, while the retail portion was 151 times oversubscribed.
The company said most of the funds would be used for construction of a factory in Hungary, part of its plan to make batteries in Europe for automakers such as BMW, Stellantis and Volkswagen.
“The Hong Kong stock listing means our wider integration into the global capital market and a new starting point for us to promote the global zero-carbon economy,” CATL founder and chairman Robin Zeng said at a listing ceremony in Hong Kong.
CATL had aimed to raise about US$4 billion in the listing but increased the size of the deal following the strong demand from investors.
A further 17.7 million can be sold as part of a so-called “green shoe option” that would take the size of CATL’s raising to US$5.3 billion.
At that size, it would be the largest listing in Hong Kong since Kuaishou Technology raised US$6.2 billion in 2021, according to LSEG data.
CATL’s bookbuild had been open for a day when the US and China announced a brief truce in the trade war that had roiled global financial markets since early April.
The US will cut extra tariffs it imposed on Chinese imports in April from 145 per cent to 30 per cent for the next three months, the two sides said last week, while Chinese duties on US imports will fall to 10 per cent from 125 per cent.
The move created some extra momentum for CATL, whose bookbuild had been already covered with pre-commitment orders when the deal launched on May 12, according to two sources.
The tariffs pause prompted some global long-only investors who had previously not bid for CATL stock in the Hong Kong listing to place orders, they added.
CATL’s net profit in the first three months of 2025 rose 32.9 per cent year on year to 14 billion yuan (S$2.5 billion), its fastest pace in nearly two years.
It has been extending its lead in the electric vehicle battery market, with a 38 per cent share globally in 2024. That increased from 36 per cent a year ago, according to data from SNE Research. REUTERS
