Chinese lithium-ion OEM Hithium will push forward with its planned IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX).
The company—full name Xiamen Hithium Energy Storage Technology Co. Ltd.—is looking to join a growing wave of domestic peers and competitors already listed on exchanges in mainland China that have added a separate listing in Hong Kong.
The listing of shares in Hong Kong (H-Shares) via an IPO not only enables companies to raise capital through the IPO itself, but it also allows them to attract overseas investment, adds financial transparency, and ultimately aids bankability.
Hithium made a listing application in March, but its so-called H-Share prospectus lapsed on 25 September, as is the case when six months have passed after filing.
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Following ESN Premium’s reporting last week, a Hithium spokesperson contacted the site, commenting that the ‘lapsed’ status is temporary and “does not indicate that the listing plan has been terminated or suspended.”
“Under HKEX regulations, once an application is marked as ‘lapsed’, the company updates its documents and the Exchange treats it as a continuation of the original application,” the spokesperson said.
“We are actively preparing the necessary materials and expect to complete the resubmission shortly. Therefore, this temporary status will not impact the overall progress of our listing plan.”
The company then issued a press release, describing the lapse of the application as a “common occurrence”. Without making a direct announcement, Hithium said a “knowledgeable source” had recently told Chinese media the company was likely to restart the HKEX by the end of 2025.
Wave of HKEX listings and applications
As noted in a July article by ESN Premium on a growing wave of HKEX listings, energy storage system integration and battery production companies Sunwoda and EVE Energy submitted HKEX IPO applications in June, industry leader Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) listed in May, while four others: BYD, CALB, REPT Battero and Zenergy have already got their listings.
Sungrow submitted its application just a few days ago.
In its release, dated 9 October, Hithium emphasised its financial health in terms of growing revenues, up 26% to CNY12.9 billion (US$1.81 billion) last year, from CNY10.2 billion in 2023, a more-than doubling of profit margins from CNY1.97 billion in 2023 to CNY4.67 billion in 2024. Overseas sales, accounting for just 1% of total sales in 2023, comprised almost a third of Hithium’s total last year (28.6%).
Hithium also pointed to its opening of manufacturing facilities in Texas, US, which it claimed could be a hedge against US-China frictions and a recently signed supply deal with Saudi Electricity Co. which is worth around CNY2.6 billion.
In the ESN Premium report last week, it was noted that Hithium is currently facing a lawsuit from CATL, which has claimed there is a high degree of overlap between the two companies’ technical patents or cell parameters.
CATL is seeking CNY150 million in compensation, although Hithium made two statements in August to the effect that the ‘composite current collector’ technology, which Chinese police have taken in a former executive for questioning regarding, did not constitute a commercial secret and that the tech had not been used in any products.
There have also been accusations from CATL that Hithium’s 587Ah battery cell bears close resemblance to its own, prompting Hithium founder and chairman Wu Zuyu (Jeff) to issue a firm rebuttal in the form of a letter sent to staff.
A lawyer specialising in battery patents told ESN Premium that Hithium had gone “from zero international patent applications to suddenly having a few hundred, very few companies file that number of applications.”
