China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), the world’s largest producer of batteries for electric vehicles and a supplier for Tesla, has applied for a listing in Hong Kong, setting sights on one of the city’s largest stock offerings in years.
The battery giant expects to raise at least $5 billion, according to Reuters. This would be CATL’s second listing after it raised $6.7 billion in an IPO on China’s Shenzhen exchange in 2022.
The battery maker, based in Ningde, Fujian, which also supplies BMW, Volkswagen and Ford among others, first announced its intention to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last December, as part of a plan to grow its global presence.
A portion the funds raised will be used to expand the company’s footprint in places such as Europe, particularly for the construction of CATL’s Hungary plant, it said in a draft application filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Tuesday.
Key details, including the number of shares to be issued and the total amount to be raised, were redacted. The company also did not specify a timeline for the listing. CNN has reached out to CATL for further comment.
As of last year, CATL operates 13 battery factories around the world, including in China and Germany, according to the filing. The firm has previously announced it was working on a joint venture in Spain with Stellantis, the owner of Fiat and Chrysler, to build a battery plant. It’s separately planning battery-related projects in Indonesia.
CATL’s planned offshore listing comes against the backdrop of intensifying geopolitical tensions, subjecting the battery maker to risks and uncertainties in its operations such as tariffs, it noted in its filing. It did not mention the 10% tariff recently imposed by US President Donald Trump on Chinese imports.
Last month, the Pentagon added CATL to its blacklist of companies deemed to be working with the Chinese military, barring it from Department of Defense’s contracts. CATL called the designation a “mistake,” saying it would “proactively engage with DoD to address the false designation.”
“It does not restrict us from conducting business with entities other than a small number of US governmental authorities, thus is expected to have no substantial adverse impact on our business,” CATL noted in the filing.
The company was the world’s largest electric battery supplier for the eighth straight year in 2024, holding a staggering 38% share of the global market, according to SNE Research, a market research and consultancy firm. In its filing, CATL stated that by late last year, its batteries were used in one out of every three EVs worldwide, powering about 17 million vehicles.
The company posted 400.9 billion yuan ($54.8 billion) in revenue in 2023 and 259 billion yuan ($35.4 billion) in revenue in the first three quarters of last year, it said.
Amid the retreat of foreign companies from China due to escalating geopolitical risk and an ailing economy, some automakers are doubling down on the world’s largest auto market.
On Tuesday, US electric vehicle giant Tesla (TSLA) began production at its battery factory in Shanghai, according to China’s official Xinhua news agency. The facility is adjacent to its EV factory in the city.
Meanwhile, Toyota (TM) last week unveiled plans to manufacture EVs and batteries for its Lexus brand in Shanghai under a wholly owned company, with production set to begin in 2027.
