Page 12 - AsiaElec Week 06 2023

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Chinese battery maker looks

to set $5bn GDR record

CHINA LEADING Chinese battery manufacturer Con- its exports despite its floundering sales at home.
temporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL) is Meanwhile, little-known Zhejiang Sanhua –
looking to raise around $5bn in the form of global which makes a variety of valves and has been a key
depository receipts (GDRs). supplier to global EV manufacturers – was set to
If successful it will be the largest ever such issu- raise about $1 billion through GDRs in Switzer-
ance by a Chinese company. land. EV battery maker Gotion High-Tech Co. is
The current market share according to now closer to its largest shareholder Volkswagen
industry insiders points to a third of all EV bat- AG’s market.”
teries produced worldwide coming from the Fuji- However, even with record-breaking GDR CATL is looking
an-based firm. rates in overseas markets on the horizon, “CATL’s
Behind the GDR issuance is the firm’s intent to potential $5bn to $6bn (GDR package) pales in to raise around
increase CATL’s global share of the electric vehicle comparison to its CNY1.1 trillion ($163bn)” mar-
(EV) market, in particular in the form of battery ket capitalisation, according to the same report. $5bn in the
production. Battery production is an industry in some
The move by CATL comes just weeks after areas reaching saturation point in Asia, accord- form of global
European and US moves to limit new internal ing to analysts. depository
combustion engine registrations in future dec- South Korean and Japanese firms are mak-
ades; in the case of Europe, Brussels now requires ing significant advances, cutting into China’s receipts.
all new vehicle registrations to carry zero-emis- once overwhelming dominance of the industry.
sion certification by 2035. Indian and Taiwanese makers are also making
As such, with the EV market share in the Euro- progress, particularly in powering Asia’s ubiqui-
pean Union anticipated to reach 64% by the end tous next-generation scooters.
of the decade, battery makers are seeing produc- As such, while “CATL is expected to ramp up
tion opportunities for many Asian-based battery battery production in Germany, as is Gotion,”
and parts makers skyrocket. even the recent move to increase finances in the
According to The Washington Post, China’s European sector is no guarantee of long-term
“Sany Heavy, for instance, was already pushing success.™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 06 08 •February•2023