Visitors tour a booth of Li Auto Inc. at the Auto Shanghai 2021 show in Shanghai on April 27, 2021. (QILAI SHEN / BLOOMBERG)
Chinese mainland electric vehicle maker Li Auto Inc. has raised HK$11.8 billion (US$1.5 billion) in its Hong Kong listing, adding to the cohort of US-traded mainland companies selling shares in the Asian financial hub.
Li Auto priced 100 million shares at HK$118 each, it said in a statement to the city’s stock exchange on Friday. The price represents a discount of about 3.2 percent to its last close on the Nasdaq on Thursday. The carmaker had set a maximum price of HK$150 apiece for the portion reserved for retail investors. One of its American depositary shares is equal to two ordinary shares.
Li Auto will be the second US-traded mainland EV maker to list in Hong Kong after larger rival XPeng Inc. raised US$2.1 billion in a dual primary listing in the city in June
READ MORE: EV maker Li Auto seeks US$1.9b in Hong Kong listing
Li Auto will be the second US-traded mainland EV maker to list in Hong Kong after larger rival XPeng Inc. raised US$2.1 billion in a dual primary listing in the city in June. Mainland firms listed stateside have been seeking trading footholds in Hong Kong as a way to hedge against the risk of being delisted from American exchanges as well as broadening their investor base.
Li Auto raised about US$1.3 billion in its US initial public offering a year ago. Its shares have traded at more than three times the offer price of US$11.50, riding on investor enthusiasm for EV makers. The stock closed at US$31.35 on Thursday.
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The carmaker plans to use the proceeds from the offering to fund the research and development, infrastructure expansion and marketing and promotion as well as general corporate purposes.
The company’s shares are set to start trading in Hong Kong on Aug 12. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and China International Capital Corp. are joint sponsors for Li Auto’s Hong Kong listing, while UBS Group AG is the financial adviser.
