BEIJING, July 6 (TMTPOST)— One of the world’s biggest producers of lithium chemicals for electric vehicle (EV) batteries seems to launch a mega listing in Hong Kong.  

Source: Visual China

Reports on Wednesday said that Tianqi Lithium Corp., has set the offer price to sell 164.1 million Hong Kong shares at HK$82.00 apiece. The listing price is at the upper of its previous marketed range between HK$69.00 to HK$82.00 per share, and suggested Asia's second-largest lithium compound producer could raise HK$13.5 billion (US$1.7 billion), creating the biggest initial public offering  (IPO) in Hong Kong so far this year.

Tianqi’s Hong Kong shares are scheduled to start trading on July 13 under stock code "9696", with CICC, CMB International and Morgan Stanley as joint sponsors and joint global coordinators.  The company can still raise more if over-allotment option were exercised to sell an additional 24.6 million shares on strong demand, which could bring the total capital it raised to nearly US$2 billion.

Headquartered in Chengdu, capital of Southwestern China’s Sichuan Province, Tianqi boasts the largest mined lithium operator globally in terms of lithium concentrate output in 2021, with a market share of 38%, and was ranked third in terms of revenue generated from lithium in 2021, according to the Wood Mackenzie Report. Its products are widely used in a number of end markets, mainly including EV, energy storage system, aircraft, ceramics and glass. In particular, the Wood Mackenzie Report ranked the company as the world’s second largest supplier of battery-grade lithium carbonate, and one of the world’s top ten suppliers in battery-grade lithium hydroxide, as measured by production in 2021.

Having already listed in Shenzhen in August, 2020, Tianqi deemed the Hong Kong listing highly meaningful for its future development. Tianqi planned to use about HK$8.865 billion, almost 74% of the net proceeds it previous estimated, to repay the US$3.5 billion loan taken out in 2018 to acquire 22.78% equity interest of SQM and become the second largest shareholder of the Chilean lithium miner. As of June 10, 2022, the outstanding principal amount of SQM Indebtedness totaled about US$1.13 billion, which is expected to be fully repaid using the IPO proceeds, according to its listing prospectus.