For Wall Street banks hoping to play a role in one of Hong Kong’s biggest listings in years, the US defence department’s decision this week to add CATL to a list of companies deemed to have links to China’s military could not have come at a worse time.
The world’s biggest maker of electric-vehicle batteries and a supplier to Tesla has been meeting banks in recent weeks as it draws up plans for a secondary listing in Hong Kong. The initial public offering would give it access to offshore funds as it seeks to expand overseas, and Morgan Stanley has estimated it could raise up to $7.7bn.
Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have all expressed interest in working on the listing, according to two people with knowledge of the process. The Shenzhen-listed company is expected to pick the underwriters ahead of a shareholder meeting on January 17, one of the people said, where the date and size of the offering are due to be discussed.