By Kane Wu and Selena Li
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Chinese battery giant CATL has hired banks including JPMorgan and Bank of America to work on a listing in Hong Kong, in what could be one of the city’s biggest deals in 2025, they said. two people with knowledge of the agreement. .
China International Capital Corp (CICC) and China Securities Co. (CSC) have also been appointed to work on the float, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the information is confidential.
The size of the offer for CATL’s possible listing in Hong Kong has not been finalized, the sources said, adding that it will likely be in the billions of dollars given the market capitalization of the Shenzhen-listed company.
CATL, with a market capitalization of $150 billion as of Monday’s close, did not immediately respond to Reuters’ comment. Bank of America and JPMorgan declined to comment. CICC and CSC did not immediately respond to Reuters comment.
The company is targeting an IPO during the first half, the two sources said.
The planned float in the Chinese offshore market comes amid rising geopolitical tensions, as the United States last week added Chinese technology companies, including CATL and Tencent Holdings, to a list of companies it says are working with the military. China.
CATL’s planned listing in Hong Kong also comes as the city has seen a flurry of new offerings in recent weeks, with growing interest in a second listing by Chinese A-share companies looking to tap foreign liquidity.
Hong Kong Stock Exchange officials, in closed-door meetings with banks, discussed how to speed up those second listings, Reuters reported in December, citing sources.
Bloomberg first reported Monday that the battery maker is willing to hire all four banks.
CATL planned to raise at least $5 billion in Swiss global depositary receipts (GDRs) in 2023, but the plan was ultimately scrapped after regulators in Beijing raised concerns about the sheer scale of the offering.
(Reporting by Kane Wu and Selena Li in Hong Kong, Brenda Goh in Shanghai; Editing by Sharon Singleton)