- CATL prices the largest share offering in Hong Kong this year at a 7% discount.
- The placement attracted strong investor demand, with proceeds to be used for global capacity expansion and zero-carbon business development.
CATL, the world's largest EV battery maker, has completed a share placement in Hong Kong to support its capacity expansion.
The company raised about $5 billion through the placement of new shares, marking the largest share offering witnessed in the Hong Kong financial market so far this year.
CATL sold 62.385 million new H shares at HK$628.20 apiece, raising HK$39.2 billion ($5 billion), according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Tuesday.
The placement price was at the bottom of its marketed range and represents a discount of about 7% to its Monday closing price of HK$675.50.
The deal was well-received by investors, who submitted orders for the entire allocation within about an hour of the launch, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
More than 150 institutions participated in the placement, including hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds and existing shareholders of the company.
CATL plans to use the net proceeds from the offering to support the further expansion of its global capacity, the development of its zero-carbon business and the research and development of frontier technologies.
In addition, a portion of the funds will be used to replenish working capital and for other general corporate purposes.
The share offering comes against the backdrop of the company's recently announced strong quarterly financial results.
CATL achieved a net profit of 20.74 billion yuan ($3.04 billion) in the first quarter, representing a robust year-on-year growth of 48.52%.
The company's board recently approved the establishment of a new subsidiary with a registered capital of 30 billion yuan, which will serve as a management and operation platform in the new energy mining sector.
CATL's Hong Kong-traded shares fell in early trading on Tuesday, dropping about 7% to HK$628.5 per share as of press time.
($1 = 6.8864 yuan, $1 = HKD 7.8365)
