CATL may offer less than 10% discount for $5 billion Hong Kong listing, sources say

By Summer Zhen and Selena Li

HONG KONG, May 7 (Reuters) - Prospective investors in CATL's upcoming $5 billion Hong Kong listing have been told the stock may be sold at a less than 10% discount to the Chinese battery maker's Shenzhen-listed shares, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

The discount offered could be around mid-single digits, two of the sources added.

CATL 300750.SZ, whose automaker clients include Tesla TSLA.O and Stellantis STLAM.MI, is meeting investors ahead of launching the book building for the deal next week that could be the largest new share sale in Hong Kong for four years.

Investors are pushing CATL to price the Hong Kong shares at least 10% below the Shenzhen-traded stock, one of the sources and a fourth person told Reuters.

The pricing has not been finalised, the sources said.

CATL wants to have cornerstone and anchor investors subscribe for around half the shares to be sold in the deal, two of the sources added.

The sources could not be named discussing information that has not yet been made public.

CATL did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

CATL shares were trading 3.0% higher on Wednesday at 238.61 yuan. However, the stock has fallen 10.3% this year. China's CSI300 index .CSI300 was up 0.6% on Wednesday.

Hong Kong shares typically trade at a discount compared to mainland stocks. Investors are usually offered stock at a cheaper price in offshore listings like this as an incentive to buy into the share offering.

Midea Group 000333.SZ priced its Hong Kong shares at about a 20% discount when it raised $4 billion in a listing in September last year.

Five mainland to Hong Kong listings since 2022 led by Midea, China Tourism Group Duty Free 601888.SS and S.F. Holding 002352.SZ had price ranges during their bookbuilds with discounts between 28% and 37%, according to Global Equity Research analyst Arun George who publishes on Smartkarma.

CATL’s listing would be the largest in Hong Kong since 2021, when Kuaishou Technology 1024.HK raised $6.2 billion in an initial public offering.

The battery maker has previously said in a regulatory filing that part of the funds raised will be used to build a 7.3 billion euro ($8.28 billion) battery plant in Hungary.

CATL’s net profit in the first three months in 2025 rose 32.9% year-on-year to 14 billion yuan ($1.91 billion), its fastest pace in nearly two years.

It has been extending its lead in the battery market with a 38% share globally in 2024. That increased from 36% in 2023, according to data from SNE Research, driven by CATL's faster growth in shipments of batteries for energy storage systems and its wide range of auto sector clients.

BYD 002594.SZ, which supplies most of its batteries to its own electric vehicles and hybrids, ranked second, with 15%.

($1 = 0.8820 euros)