Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD is aiming to raise as much as HK$40.7 billion ($7.06 billion) in what would be Hong Kong’s biggest share sale in nearly four years.
The company is offering 118 million shares at HK$333 to HK$345 each, according to terms of the deal seen by Bloomberg News. That implies a discount of up to 8.4% to BYD’s closing price on Monday, according to Bloomberg calculations.
The transaction marks Hong Kong’s biggest share sale since food-delivery firm Meituan raised US$10 billion ($13.5 billion) in 2021 through a combination of a top-up placement and convertible bonds. BYD’s deal also reinforces expectations among dealmakers that Chinese share sales are primed for a rebound after years of decline.
The planned offering follows a strong performance by the Shenzhen-based automaker, which sold more than 318,000 pure electric and hybrid passenger vehicles last month — a 161% y-o-y surge. The company also notched another record month for overseas sales, which hit 67,025 units.
The fresh capital could support BYD’s global expansion, as it looks to localise production in several places around the world in order to bypass tariffs being levied on China-made EVs.
Executive Vice President Stella Li said last week that BYD wants to build a third factory in Europe and a decision on a possible location may come in the next year and a half.
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Chinese companies have been pouncing on the recent rally to raise more funds, thanks to excitement around DeepSeek’s breakthrough in artificial intelligence and President Xi Jinping’s meeting with prominent entrepreneurs.
BYD is likely looking to capitalise on the rally in its shares, which have surged 46% in Hong Kong since its January low. This is in sharp contrast with Tesla’s 26% decline over the same period.
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The offering will have a lockup of 90 days on the company and Chairman Wang Chuanfu, the terms show.
BYD aims to deliver 5 million to 6 million EVs and hybrids this year, up from 4.27 million in 2024. The company finished the year as the seventh-biggest car group by sales globally, data compiled by Bloomberg shows.
Still, it fell short of surpassing Tesla as the biggest seller of pure EVs globally in 2024 by less than 25,000 units. However, BYD is set to leapfrog the Elon Musk-run company in annual revenue, on track to exceed US$100 billion in sales for the first time in 2024.
