Londian Wason New Energy Tech said on Monday it is targeting a valuation of up to $1.7 billion in a proposed initial public offering in the United States, filing to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker FOIL. The Shenzhen-based electrolytic copper foil producer intends to offer about 3.6 million American Depositary Shares (ADS) at a price range of $20 to $22 per ADS, which would raise up to $78.6 million if fully subscribed.
The planned U.S. listing could be the largest New York listing of a Chinese company in more than a year, and will serve as a test of market demand for Chinese issuers in the United States. Chinese listings in New York have been scarce over the past year as geopolitical tensions between the world’s two largest economies intensified, and Beijing has encouraged more homegrown champions to pursue listings closer to the mainland while increasing scrutiny of companies seeking offshore offerings.
Analysts note that the size of the offering is modest compared with some larger Chinese listings in previous years, meaning that a successful debut would be encouraging for market re-entry rather than a decisive reopening of the pipeline. "The offering itself is relatively small compared with the larger Chinese deals seen in previous years, which means a successful debut would be encouraging rather than a definitive reopening of the market," said IPOX Research Associate Lukas Muehlbauer. "The business is benefiting from growing battery demand and has recently returned to stronger growth and profitability, but investors will watch its reliance on a few large customers."
Beijing granted approval for Londian Wason’s planned New York IPO in December, one of the limited number of U.S. listing applications cleared by the China Securities Regulatory Commission during the past year. The company lists South Korea’s SK Group and Mirae Asset among its major backers and is led by co-chief executives Guanran Wang and Guangling Zhou.
Londian Wason sells electrolytic copper foil on a global basis and has recruited a syndicate of underwriters for the offering. The banks listed as underwriters are Cantor, Huatai Securities, CMB International, US Tiger Securities, Fortune Securities and VC Brokerage. According to the company’s prospectus, several institutional investors have indicated interest in purchasing ADSs: Harvest Global Capital Investments has signaled interest for $50 million, Hithium Global for $7 million, and certain other investors for $30 million.
The proposed IPO will be closely watched by market participants for signs of renewed appetite for Chinese firms in U.S. markets and for indications about investor willingness to engage with companies whose revenues are tied to the battery supply chain and a concentrated customer base.