Li Auto, the Chinese electric-vehicle maker backed by on-demand delivery service giant Meituan, has got the go-ahead from Hong Kong stock exchange for an initial public offering, just 12 months after its debut in New York.
The EV start-up will join rival Xpeng, which became the first Chinese EV company to list in Hong Kong via a dual primary listing following its US$1.8 billion fundraising this month.
The Beijing-based company plans to list on the main board through a dual primary listing, which means that unlike a secondary listing, it would not benefit from the automatic waivers granted by the Hong Kong bourse that would streamline the application-vetting process. But Li Auto's primary listing makes it eligible for inclusion in the Stock Connect, potentially opening up its shares to a huge investor base in China.
Last July, Li Auto raised US$1.1 billion from its Nasdaq IPO, after pricing its American depositary shares (ADS) at US$11.5 each. Issuers seeking a listing in the city after a US flotation generally price their Hong Kong shares close to the ADS level to avoid price volatility, analysts said. Each Li Auto ADS represents two ordinary shares.
"We have not been profitable since our inception," Li Auto said in the heavily redacted draft prospectus on Monday. "We may not generate sufficient revenues or continue to incur substantial losses for a number of reasons, including lack of demand for our vehicles and increasing competition."
Founded in 2015, Meituan owns about 16.2 per cent of Li Auto.
For the three months ended March, Li Auto's net loss widened to 360 million yuan (US$54.9 million), from 77.1 million yuan a year ago. Its net loss last year was 151.7 million yuan.
Li Auto joins a slew of US-listed Chinese tech companies, such as e-commerce giant JD.com and internet giant Baidu, in seeking a listing in Hong Kong, as deteriorating US-China relations push many to seek a listing closer to home to hedge against the risk of being shut out from the US capital market. In the first half of this year, four mainland companies sought a secondary listing in Hong Kong.
Shares listed in Hong Kong are fully fungible with those listed in the US, and holders of Li Auto's ADS could also swap them for Hong Kong traded shares.
Li Auto, which is seen as one of the start-ups challenging Tesla in the mainland along with Xpeng and NIO, said it aims to launch at least two premium EVs per year from 2023. All new models from 2022 will be fitted with in-house Lidar technology, giving the cars level four autonomous driving capability. L4 does not require human interaction in most circumstances.
"Investors are keeping a close watch on Li Auto's new model development plans because it is difficult for a player to win a big share in China's fast-growing EV market," said Ivan Li, a fund manager at Shanghai-based Loyal Wealth Management. "An enlarged product line should be given a priority by Li Auto as it expands production."
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As of June, Li Auto had delivered over 63,000 Li One SUVs, its first and only production model. The start-up said it ranked among the top six in China's new energy vehicle market with a 2.8 per cent share of overall sales, citing data from research firm CIC.
Li Auto plans to double its annual production capacity at its Changzhou plant in southern Jiangsu province to 200,000 vehicles in 2022, from 100,000 units in 2020.
The company plans to use the net proceeds on research and development, including fast-charging and autonomous driving technologies, expanding its retail stores and marketing.
Goldman Sachs and CICC are the deal's joint sponsors, while UBS is the financial adviser.
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