A new energy car is seen at the workshop of Chinese car manufacturer Leapmotor in Jinhua, East China's Zhejiang province, April 26, 2022. (HU XIAOFEI / XINHUA)

HONG KONG - Chinese mainland electric vehicle maker Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology is aiming to raise US$1.03 billion in a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region initial public offering (IPO), according to regulatory filings.

The company is selling 130.82 million shares in the deal that will be sold in a price range of HK$48 (US$6.11) to HK$62 each, the filings showed.

The company is selling 130.82 million shares in the deal that will be sold in a price range of HK$48 (US$6.11) to HK$62 each, the filings showed

Leapmotor's deal comes as China Vanke's property services group Onewo Space-Tech Service is in the market raising up to US$733 million in its IPO that was launched Monday. Onewo had hoped to raise US$2 billion but scaled back the size of its IPO.

The two deals are the largest in the HKSAR since February and dealmakers hope a positive response could prompt more IPOs before the end of the year.

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Leapmotor had planned to raise US$1.5 billion but reduced the size of the deal after a lukewarm response from investors, sources previously told Reuters.

The IPO was paused a fortnight ago following the company's initial briefings with potential investors while financial markets were volatile, the sources said.

The company will have a market capitalization of US$6.99 billion to US$9.03 billion based on the price range flagged to investors.

Final pricing of the shares is due to occur on Friday and the stock will start trading on Sept 29.

Leapmotor has locked in five cornerstone investors - led by the Zhejiang and Jinhua industrial funds -who will buy up to US$308.33 million shares, according to the filings.

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Leapmotor produces four electric vehicle models that mainly target the Chinese mainland’s middle- and lower-end mass market in a 79,500 yuan-300,000 yuan (US$11,466.40-US$43,269.44) price range, according to its website and prospectus filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The company was ranked 12th in terms of sales in the first seven months among all EV makers in the mainland, with a market share of 2.3 percent, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association.

The majority of the cash raised will be used for research and development and expanding production capacity, the filings showed.