Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL) made a record debut at the Hong Kong stock exchange after raising $4.6 billion through its listing on the island city's bourse on Tuesday. Shares of the firm were trading at HK$311.40 on Tuesday, a premium of 18.4 per cent above the subscription price of HK$263, according to news agency Reuters.
CATL's listing, which is the largest in the world this year, is a strong signal to other leading mainland China firms that are looking to move to the Hong Kong equities market.
Bonnie Chan, chief executive officer of bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, said that over 40 firms listed in mainland China, known as A-share companies, were actively exploring Hong Kong listings.
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Chan said that one major advantage these companies get is that it "would open up an offshore fundraising platform for us to support their offshore expansion plan".
Moreover, Wang Shuguang, who looks after China International Capital Corp's investment banking operations, told Reuters that CATL's listing could help revive Hong Kong's capital markets.
He added that the listing highlights how major, domestically-listed industrial firms can gain strong recognition from global investors through Hong Kong offerings, which in turn contributes to increased activity in the Hong Kong markets.
Why the CATL listing is important
CATL is the world’s largest electric vehicle battery manufacturer, commanding a 38 per cent global market share in 2024, up from 36 per cent the previous year, according to SNE Research, as quoted by Reuters. The firm supplies batteries to major automakers including BMW, Volkswagen, Tesla and Stellantis, and is planning to expand with a new factory in Hungary to cater to growing demand in Europe. The company said most of the funds from the listing would be used to build the factory.
"This listing means our wider integration into the global capital market and a new starting point for us to promote the global zero-carbon economy," Robin Zeng, founder and chairman of CATL, said at the listing ceremony.
Relations with the US
The listing comes soon after the United States and China agreed to halt an increasingly-escalating tariff war against each other. The pause encouraged several global long-term investors — who had initially stayed away from CATL's Hong Kong listing — to submit bids, according to sources quoted by Reuters.
It also comes despite the US Defence Department, in January 2025, adding dozens of Chinese companies, including CATL, to a list of companies it said have ties to China's military, and prohibiting onshore US investors to invest in such stocks. However, according to the sources, it did not dent the demand for CATL's stock offering.
CATL also said in its prospectus that it was working with the US defence department to address what it called the 'false designation", prompting global investors, including from the US, to put in bids for multiple times the number of shares on offer. Moreover, US investors with offshore accounts could still participate, the report added.