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TianqiLithium raises $1.7 billion in year’s biggest Hong Kong listing

Tianqi Lithium Corp. raised about HK$13.5 billion ($1.7 billion)after pricing its Hong Kong second listing at the top of a marketed range,according to people familiar with the matter, in the Asian financial hub’slargest share sale this year.

The Shenzhen-listed supplier of the key material used inbatteries sold 164.1 million shares at HK$82 apiece, the people said, askingnot to be identified as the information is private. Tianqi Lithium had marketedthe shares at HK$69 to HK$82 each.

A representative for Tianqi Lithium didn’t immediately respondto a request for comment.

The share sale breaks a months-long drought for large offeringsin Hong Kong, where funds raised between January and June fell more 90% fromthe previous year. The city has been hit even harder by the global slump thanother trading hubs, as central banks move to combat surging inflation andspikes in volatility have put issuers on the sidelines.

As virus-related curbs in China ease and the country’s equitiesrecover both at home and abroad, a successful listing by Tianqi Lithium couldopen the window for a pickup in Hong Kong offerings. China Tourism Group DutyFree Corp., which is traded in Shanghai, is set to relaunch a Hong Kong listingthat could raise around $2 billion to $3 billion as soon as in the thirdquarter.

Tracing its history to the construction of its first lithiumcarbonate plant in 1992, Tianqi Lithium mines lithium in Australia and produceslithium compounds and derivatives in China, a prospectus shows. TheChengdu-based company raised 735 million yuan ($110 million) in a Shenzheninitial public offering in 2010.

Tianqi Lithium sold a 49% stake in its Australian unit in 2020to Perth-based IGO Ltd. for $1.4 billion to help repay an acquisition loan. TheKwinana lithium refinery near Perth, Australia — a joint venture between thecompany and IGO and the first lithium refinery outside China — delivered itsfirst batch of battery-grade lithium hydroxide in May.

The share sale has drawn seven cornerstone investors that areset to snap up about 38% of the listing, the prospectus shows. Morgan Stanley,China International Capital Corp. and CMB International Capital Ltd. are jointsponsors of the offering.