CATL’s Hong Kong listing draws interest from Qatar sovereign fund, KIA, Sinopec, Hillhouse

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Sinopec are considering investing in Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Limited’s Hong Kong listing, one of the city’s biggest share sales in recent years, sources familiar with the matter said.

QIA, as Qatar’s wealth fund is known, and the Chinese state-owned oil company could seek to buy several hundred million US dollars worth of stock in the offering, the sources said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. Alternative asset manager Hillhouse Investment is also considering buying shares in the listing, the sources said.

CATL has also been holding talks with other funds including Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), the sources said. Some of the firms could commit to buy a specific amount of shares as cornerstone investors, while others may place orders in the regular institutional offering, according to the sources.

Cornerstone investors get a guaranteed allocation in stock offerings in exchange for agreeing to a lock-up on their shares, typically for six months. Talks are ongoing and no final decisions have been made, the sources said. Other firms have also been in talks to participate in the offering, they said.

Representatives for CATL, QIA and KIA, as Kuwait’s sovereign fund is known, declined to comment. Sinopec and Hillhouse did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

CATL, which already trades in Shenzhen, has started gauging interest for its Hong Kong listing, terms of the deal seen by Bloomberg News show. The world’s top electric vehicle battery manufacturer could raise about US$5 billion in an offering this month, Bloomberg has reported.

CATL secured Hong Kong’s approval last month for the listing.

The company’s shares in Shenzhen are down about 13 per cent this year, while the city’s benchmark is little changed. CATL, which has a market value of about one trillion yuan (S$179 billion) and counts carmakers such as BMW, Tesla and Volkswagen as customers, reported 33 per cent year-on-year net income growth in the first quarter and said demand looked strong despite US tariffs. BLOOMBERG