CATL catapulted to be worth billions on stock exchange
China’s battery powerhouse CATL has succeeded instantly on the stock exchange. Shares in Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd soared 44 per cent on their debut in Shenzhen as investors seek to embrace clean energy.
That’s a debut – CATL only got listed on the stock exchange this Monday and sold 217 million new shares, or 10 per cent of its enlarged capital, at an initial price of 25.14 yuan ($3.92) each. The battery maker is now listed with a market capitalisation of 12.3 billion dollars.
The investors’ enthusiasm is well-founded. CATL has recently climbed the ranks of the world’s top battery makers and is chasing Panasonic for dominance reportedly. Already CATL have managed to convince major automakers from Europe to enter battery supply agreements. Daimler, Volkswagen and most recently Nissan and Renault have all turned to China in order to secure their supply for their upcoming electric cars and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Moreover, CATL has been moving fast and decided to set up battery production in Europe. The German town of Erfurt has been chosen, according to our sources and there are benefits to this location. For one, the nearby Volkswagen factory in Zwickau is easily reached and next to BMW and Porsche in Leipzig. Furthermore, the region has a fairly high number of well-educated specialists with key skills for the manufacturing, including the knowledge cluster in Thuringia.
CATL was founded in 2011 as a spinoff of the Hong Kong based Amperex Technology. This first IPO made CATL the biggest company on China’s ChiNext list that is comparable to Nasdaq. Their most recent statements indicate that CATL is aiming for an output of 30 GWh in the coming year, and 50 GWh by 2020. In 2017 it was 23 GWh. The money from the stock exchange will help CATL finance a new 24 gigawatt-hour battery factory in Ningde.
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