In February, Chinese battery supplier CALB and the government of Shenzhen’s Futian District signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement. This event constitutes a formal declaration that CALB has landed its international HQ in Futian District.
In addition to being the downtown core of Shenzhen, Futian District also accommodates the municipal government and party committee. CALB therefore will fully leverage this combination of advantages: the central location, the presence of advanced industries, the availability of various public services, the friendly business environment, and the policy support from the local government. With the international HQ, CALB will be able to ramp efforts in the R&D and commercialization of key technologies. Furthermore, the company will use the site to build up its team of talents and develop product standards that will be applicable across the industry for Li-ion batteries.
The government of Shenzhen has made CALB’s international HQ a priority in its economic development plan. Both the municipal and district governments have done their utmost to facilitate the rapid implementation of this investment project that is expected to reinforce the city’s position as one of the world’s major hubs for advanced manufacturing.
Commenting on the latest agreement signed with the government of Shenzhen, CALB stated that the internationalization of its business operations will accelerate further during 2023. The company maintains a two-pronged strategy of focusing on the businesses of NEV power batteries and energy storage batteries. The market for energy storage solutions has recently generated huge growth opportunities that CALB intends to capture. Therefore, the company will continue to improve its performances with respect to product innovation, finding new clients, service provisioning, and capacity expansion.
Established in 2007, CALB has set up its main HQ in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province. Among Chinese suppliers for NEV power batteries, CALB is ranked third by scale following BYD in second place and CATL at the top. Since BYD makes batteries mainly for meeting the demand from its own vehicles, CALB can be considered as the second largest third-party supplier for NEV power batteries next to CATL.
Regarding capacity expansion, CALB has seven bases located in the following Chinese cities and provinces: Changzhou, Chengdu, Xiamen, Wuhan, Hefei, and Heilongjiang. At the same time, the company has unveiled plans to build bases in regions outside China, including North America and Europe. The company has set a production capacity target of more than 500GWh per year for 2025.
In terms of client base, CALB’s advanced battery solutions have been adopted by several major carmakers. The company has also gotten involved in car manufacturing and joined forces with other carmakers to develop branded vehicles, including some models for commercial transportation. Top-tier car brands that are now working with CALB include GAC Group, XPENG, NIO, Chang’an Auto, Leap Motor, Geely Auto, HYCAN, Dongfeng, Honda, and Mercedes-Benz (Smart).
In China, industries related to new energy technologies have been growing rapidly during recent years. The market for Li-ion battery, in particular, has been booming. In order to seize the initiative, Chinese battery suppliers have been in a race to launch IPO and expand their funding channels.
CALB was formally listed on the HKEX on October 6, 2022. It is first Chinese supplier for NEV power batteries to have successfully achieved this feat. CALB’s IPO raised HKD 9.86 billion (CNY 8.93 billion) and was the third largest in scale at the HKEX for 2022.
In its prospectus, CALB stated that the proceeds from the IPO was going to be used to build new production bases that supply batteries used in NEVs and energy storage systems. A portion of the proceeds was going to be spend on new equipment, raw materials, and facility buildings.
Less than three months after it was listed on the HKEX, CALB unveiled its plan for secondary listing in Mainland China. On December 29, 2022, CALB filed a notice stating that it will be conducting pre-listing tutoring. However, the company has yet to release details on how it will be issuing its A-shares.
This article is a translation of a Chinese article posted by TrendForce. It contains information that is either sourced from other news outlets or accessible in the public domain. Some Chinese names are transcribed into English using Hanyu Pinyin.