Battery giant Catl ends more than 16% on Hong Kong’s debut
The Chinese battery giant Catl ended his first day at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange more than 16 percent higher on Tuesday, after he picked up US $ 4.6 billion in the world’s largest public offer this year.
Catl is a world leader in the sector and produces more than a third of all batteries for electric vehicles that are sold worldwide.
The company is encouraged by rapid growth in the domestic electric vehicle sector in China and now works with major brands such as Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen.
However, it is also located in the crossfire of a super power conflict between Washington and Beijing for technical dominance, in which Washington puts it on a blacklist that it calls it as a military company.
The company was already traded in the South Chinese city of Shenzhen and the plan for a secondary list in Hong Kong was announced in December.
During the morning his Hong Kong shares found a highlight of HK $ 311.40 (US $ 39.92), an increase of 18.4 percent compared to the listing price of HK $ 263.00.
The shares closed at HK $ 306.20.
“This offer means our deeper integration into global capital markets and marks a new milestone in our mission to stimulate the global zero cabbage dust economy,” said Catl’s founder and chairman Robin Zeng during the company ceremony on Tuesday.
The collected funds can be used to accelerate its overseas expansion, including building its second European factory in Hungary after launching its first in Germany in January 2023.
The strong interest in the shares of the company comes even when it comes to the attention in the United States.
In a list issued by the US Department of Defense in January, Catl was designated as a “Chinese military company”.
The US House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party emphasized this recording in letters to two Wall Street banks in April and urged them to withdraw from the IPO deal about its alleged ties with the army.
But the banks – JPMorgan and Bank of America – remain on board.
– Hong Kong IPO -target –
Beijing has denounced the list as “oppression”, while Catl denied “in military -related activities”.
Catl also said in May requests that it was “proactive attractive” with the Pentagon to “tackle the false designation”.
Founded in 2011 in the eastern Chinese city of Ningde, the company has received strong financial support from Beijing, which has sought in recent years to strengthen domestic power in certain strategic high-tech sectors.
It has also passed a fierce price war in the extensive EV sector of China that has put smaller companies under enormous pressure to compete and remain financially viable.
Tuesday’s Blockbuster list is also a blessing for the Hong Kong stock exchange, which is enthusiastic about the return of large Chinese entries, because it seems to regain his crown as the world’s best location for listed IPOs.
The Chinese Finance Hub saw a steady decrease in the new offer after the legal action of Beijing from 2020 led to some megacompanias on the mainland on hold, while a strict security law was added to the uncertainty for companies that want to mention.
Data from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange show that this year it processes dozens of applications from Chinese companies.
Analysts said that Tuesday’s IPO shows the role of Hong Kong as a place for Chinese companies to attract capital.
“We also see an increasing demand for portfolio diversification away from assets generated by the American dollar, underlined by the recent strength in the Hong Kong Dollar,” Jason Lui, head of Apac Equity and derivative strategy at BNP Paribas, told AFP.
Bur-Oho-TWA/MTP
