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Hong Kong listing could be city's largest share sale in

four

years

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CATL's net profit rose 32.9% in Q1 2025

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Funds to support new battery plant in Hungary

(Adds analyst comment in paragraph 12 and CATL context in

paragraphs 16-17; updates share price)

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, whose automaker clients include Tesla

and Stellantis ( STLA ), 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 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 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 and S.F. Holding

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 ( KUASF ) 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, which supplies most of its batteries to its

own electric vehicles and hybrids, ranked second, with 15%.

($1 = 0.8820 euros)

(Reporting by Summer Zhen and Selena Li in Hong Kong;

additional reporting Zoey Zhang. Writing by Scott Murdoch;

Editing by Sonali Paul and Muralikumar Anantharaman)