Tesla’s Chinese competitor Xpeng completes debut with 41 per cent premium after upsizing IPO to US$1.5 billion

Strong investor demand enables Xpeng to bump up offer size and price shares above its indicative range

Chinese start-ups tap markets to prepare for a recovery in the mainland’s electric car sales in the second half

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Xpeng’s P7 all-electric sedan. The carmaker opened a new assembly in southern China’s Guangdong province, after rolling out its 10,000th electric car from a contract manufacturer’s plant in 2019. Photo: Handout

Published: 2:26pm, 27 Aug 2020Updated: 7:33am, 28 Aug 2020

Chinese electric car maker Xpeng completed its debut in New York by handing investors a 41 per cent premium, underscoring optimism surrounding a growing list of start-ups that aimed to overtake market leader Tesla in China, the world’s biggest car market.

Its shares closed on the New York stock exchange at US$21.22, compared with its initial public offering (IPO) price of US$15, according to Bloomberg data. The stock surged as much as 67 per cent in intraday trading.

Strong demand allowed the carmaker to bump up its American depositary shares (ADS) price and collect nearly US$1.5 billion, making the Guangzhou-based Xpeng’s initial public offering the largest by a Chinese electric vehicle start-up in the US.

Rival Li Auto last month raised US$1.26 billion including over-allotment portion, while another competitor NIO obtained US$1 billion in 2018.

The final offer price of US$15 per ADS was well above its indicative range of US$11 to US$13, while the final deal size has been increased to 99.73 million shares from the initially planned 85 million shares. Each ADS represents two Class A ordinary shares in the company.

The joint bookrunners include Credit Suisse, JPMorgan, BofA Securities, ABCI, BOC International, Futu, Haitong International and Tiger Brokers.

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