China EV Startup Leapmotor Picks Banks for Hong Kong IPO
China EV Startup Leapmotor Picks Banks for Hong Kong IPO
(Bloomberg) -- Chinese electric-vehicle maker Leapmotor has picked three banks to work on its planned Hong Kong initial public offering of more than $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
China International Capital Corp., Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are working on the listing, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. Leapmotor is considering a Hong Kong listing as soon as next year, Bloomberg News reported in October.
Representatives for CICC, Citigroup and JPMorgan declined to comment. A representative for Leapmotor didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The startup, whose backers include video surveillance company Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co. and Sequoia Capital China, would join other rivals such as Xpeng Inc. and Li Auto Inc. in listing in the Asian financial hub. The U.S.-traded pair raised a combined $3.8 billion in dual primary listings over the summer.
First-time share sales in Hong Kong have slowed down in the second half of the year as President Xi Jinping’s push to align companies with his vision of “common prosperity” roiled markets and caused many firms to delay listing plans. However bankers expect activity to pick up again in 2022 as companies that had initially planned U.S. listings reroute them to Hong Kong.
Founded in 2015, Hangzhou-based Leapmotor makes electric vehicles using chips or core technology that are designed in-house, according to its website. In September, it received 8,754 pre-orders, while it delivered 4,095 vehicles, a fivefold jump from the same period last year, according to a posting on the company’s WeChat account.
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.