De Wang Cao's Indirectly Invested Company Goes Public in Hong Kong, Battery Capacity Expected to Reach 50.5 GWh by 2026

Recently, Jiangsu Zenergy Battery Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zenergy") resubmitted its listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with CICC and CMB International serving as joint sponsors. Notably, the company had previously submitted its prospectus on July 26, 2024, which expired after six months. This time, Zenergy updated its prospectus and is making another attempt at the listing.

According to the prospectus, Zenergy's Chairwoman is Fang Cao, the sister of Fuyao Glass's founder Dewang Cao. Both Fang Cao and her entrepreneurial partner, Jicheng Chen, who serves as Zenergy's Director and General Manager, previously worked at Fuyao Glass. Fang Cao served as a Director of Fuyao Glass from 1997 to November 2011 and as Deputy General Manager from February 2011 to April 2014. Jicheng Chen joined Fuyao Glass in October 2003 and held various positions within the Fuyao Glass Group. Dewang Cao, as Fang Cao's brother and the head of Fuyao Glass, also indirectly holds shares in Zenergy. His Fujian Yaohua Industrial Village Development Co., Ltd., as a financial investor, owns approximately 2.52% of Zenergy's shares.

The prospectus also reveals that Zenergy is a lithium-ion battery manufacturer in China, developing a diverse battery product portfolio driven by market demand and technology. The company primarily focuses on the sales of battery products for EVs, offering integrated solutions for battery cells, modules, battery packs, battery clusters, and battery management systems. It is committed to expanding the large-scale application of electrochemical products across land, sea, and air connectivity.

In terms of capacity, as of August 31, 2024, Zenergy's designed total capacity for battery cell products was 25.5 GWh, which is expected to increase to 50.5 GWh by 2026.

Regarding orders, as of the latest prospectus disclosure date, Zenergy had 48 fixed-point agreements subsequently converted into purchase orders. As of the prospectus disclosure, among these fixed points, 24 had entered mass production and delivery stages, while 24 were in the prototyping or development stages.

In terms of customers, Zenergy's battery clients include large central and state-owned enterprises, emerging automakers, and leading multinational automakers. The company's battery product supply share for core car models of leading enterprises such as FAW Hongqi, GAC Trumpchi, Leap Motor, SAIC-GM-Wuling, and SAIC-GM has been steadily increasing. As of August 31, 2024, Zenergy's sales penetration rate for Leap Motor's core BEV models and SAIC-GM's core PHEV product, the GL8 Land Business PHEV, exceeded 50%. Additionally, Zenergy has collaborated with companies like Deye Corporation on ESS batteries and is actively seeking to advance mass production cooperation with clients in the aviation and marine sectors.

In terms of R&D, as of August 31, 2024, Zenergy's R&D team consisted of over 1,061 full-time employees, approximately 27.4% of whom held a master's degree or higher. As of the same date, the company had filed 3,226 patent applications and had been granted 2,026 patents (including 307 invention patents). The company has also received funding from the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology for its sodium-ion battery industrialisation project.

In terms of performance, from 2021 to 2023 and the first eight months of 2024, Zenergy's revenues were 1.499 billion yuan, 3.29 billion yuan, 4.162 billion yuan, and 2.858 billion yuan, respectively, showing a continuous growth trend. However, the company has yet to achieve profitability, with net losses during the same periods amounting to 402 million yuan, 1.72 billion yuan, 590 million yuan, and 100 million yuan, respectively.

In terms of capital, in July 2024, Zenergy completed a Series B financing round of 1 billion yuan, with a post-investment valuation of approximately 18.2 billion yuan.