This Chinese company shrugs off trade tension to surge in stock debut after clinching year’s biggest IPO
CNN
Shares in China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), the world’s largest electric vehicle battery maker, have surged as much as 18% on its first day of trading in Hong Kong, shrugging off geopolitical uncertainties.
Shares in China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), the world’s largest electric vehicle battery maker, surged as much as 18% on its first day of trading in Hong Kong, shrugging off geopolitical uncertainties. On Tuesday, CATL shares opened at 296 Hong Kong dollars ($37.8), well above the subscription price of 263 Hong Kong dollars ($33.6) in a stock listing that raised $4.6 billion last week. Its shares rose to as much as 311 Hong Kong dollars during the trading day, according to Refinitiv data. The listing, the world’s largest so far this year, is the latest example of how Chinese companies are pressing ahead with their global expansion plans despite ongoing trade tension with the US. In January, CATL was added to a Pentagon blacklist of companies that it alleges work with China’s military, although it has denied such links. Last month, the House Select Committee on China demanded that US investment banks JPMorgan and Bank of America withdraw from underwriting CATL’s Hong Kong listing. Both stuck with the deal. “The Hong Kong stock listing signifies our deeper integration into the global capital markets,” Robin Zeng, the company’s founder and chairman, said at a listing ceremony at the Hong Kong stock exchange. “CATL is not just a battery component manufacturer, but also a provider of system-level solutions, and is more committed to becoming a zero-carbon technology company.” The firm supplies major EV makers – including Volkswagen, Stellantis and BMW – and its overseas sales accounted for over 30% of its revenue last year, according to a May 12 stock exchange filing.
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