A Chinese battery supplier for electric vehicle makers, Bloomberg CALB Co., was unchanged in its trading debut in Hong Kong on Thursday, as it tests appetite for the sector one week after an EV producer's disastrous debut in the city.
The price they sold at in the offering was HK $38. Shares opened at HK $38 each. The Jiangsu-based company raised around HK $10.1 billion $1.3 billion after selling shares at the bottom of a marketed range that went as high as $51. The IPO attracted 15 cornerstone investors who agreed to purchase around $735.5 million worth of stock.
This year, the listing is the third-largest in the Asian financial hub. The first session of the year is certain to be watched closely by investors after electric-vehicle maker Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology Co. slumped 34% in its first day of trade on Sept. 29 after a $800 million offering. It was the biggest decline in a single day for a listing of that size or larger in the city.
Half of the 18 companies listed since January after raising more than $100 million ended their initial session below water, the IPO proceeds in Hong Kong have fallen nearly 75% for the year, according to Bloomberg data. On Wednesday, the shares of CALB fell in the grey-market trading in Hong Kong.
Only about 20% of the CALB shares that were available to retail investors ended up being subscribed to the IPO, according to a statement this week. The tranche for international funds was moderately oversubscribed. Huatai International Ltd. is the sole sponsor of CALB's Hong Kong IPO.
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