Chinese battery maker CALB Co. is delaying seeking a listing hearing with the Hong Kong stock exchange for its planned initial public offering, people with knowledge of the matter said.
(Bloomberg) — Chinese battery maker CALB Co. is delaying seeking a listing hearing with the Hong Kong stock exchange for its planned initial public offering, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The Jiangsu-based company, which was initially going to meet the Hong Kong bourse’s listing committee on Thursday, now plans to seek approval at a later date, the people said.
The reason couldn’t immediately be learned, though companies sometimes seek a short delay so they have more time to answer any outstanding queries from the exchange before requesting formal approval. An external representative for CALB couldn’t immediately comment.
CALB is planning to seek as much as $2 billion including an over-allotment option, people familiar with the matter have said. That would make it the second biggest in Hong Kong this year, after China Tourism Group Duty Free Corp.’s $2.1 billion listing, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
IPOs in the city this year have raised $7.3 billion, down from $35.1 billion during the same period in 2021, the data show. Huatai International Ltd. is the sole sponsor of CALB’s Hong Kong share sale.
Electric vehicle-related companies, particularly those upstream in the supply chain, are drawing plenty of investor interest even amid concerns about a global recession and stringent Covid-19 containment measures in China, where EVs claim a rapidly growing share of the automotive market. Tianqi Lithium Corp., China’s biggest lithium miner, saw its first-half net income skyrocket by almost 12,000% from a year earlier to a record 10.3 billion yuan ($1.5 billion). It raised $1.7 billion in a Hong Kong listing in July.
Established in 2007, CALB makes lithium batteries for electric vehicles and other products. It operates major production bases in China, including in Changzhou, Xiamen and Wuhan, according to its website.
(Updates with electric vehicle industry context in sixth paragraph.)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
