Putailai "Lightning" Listing on HKEX: CATL Supports 40% of Revenue, Still Needs to Raise Funds to Repay Debt

Why is the outbound expansion strategy shifting from Europe to Southeast Asia?

Just two months after announcing plans to list in Hong Kong, the leading anode material company for lithium batteries, Putailai (603659.SH), officially filed for listing. On March 16, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange updated Putailai’s prospectus.

According to Beijing News Shell Finance, Putailai’s main downstream customers are battery manufacturers, with CATL accounting for about 40% of revenue, maintaining its position as the largest customer. While Putailai is betting on Southeast Asia for overseas expansion, major clients like CATL have been increasing their local presence in recent years.

This Hong Kong listing puts pressure on Putailai’s finances. Since going public, the company has raised a total of 48.806 billion yuan, compared to BTR New Material Group (260.33 million yuan), which listed three years earlier. As of the end of 2025, about 45% of Putailai’s shares held by controlling shareholder and actual controller Liang Feng are pledged.

Alongside advancing an “A+H” listing, Putailai is also pushing forward with “A拆北” (A split to Beijing Stock Exchange), planning to spin off its automation equipment subsidiary for listing on the Beijing Stock Exchange. This move is seen as a way to ease the parent company’s financial pressure.

Following CATL’s lead in going overseas to capture markets, shifting focus from Europe to Southeast Asia

Founded in 2012, Putailai is positioned upstream in the lithium battery supply chain, claiming to be a platform company centered on “materials + equipment,” mainly engaged in anode materials, graphite, membrane materials and coatings, and automation equipment.

In its prospectus, Putailai states that its business operates in a highly concentrated market. Industry data shows the company accounts for approximately 35.3% of the global new energy battery separator membrane market, ranking first for seven consecutive years. By 2025, its artificial graphite anode material shipments and market share are expected to rank sixth worldwide.

Seeking to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Putailai aims to expand its overseas business and strengthen its global footprint, opening channels for financing in international capital markets.

2026 is viewed as a key year for Putailai to expand its overseas anode material production bases, with plans to establish production capacity in Southeast Asia.

On March 11, Putailai announced plans to build a Malaysian anode material production plant with an annual capacity of 50,000 tons, a total investment of $297 million (about 2.051 billion yuan), funded by the company’s own capital. The prospectus shows that one of the uses of funds from the Hong Kong IPO is to finance this project.

Putailai describes the current industry trend as shifting from product exports to localized production, driving international expansion of materials and equipment businesses. Overseas market development is seen as a core strategic pillar.

Its main downstream clients are battery manufacturers, with CATL consistently being the largest customer, contributing about 40% of Putailai’s revenue. Besides CATL, clients include LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI, ATL, BYD, and China Innovation Battery.

For supporting material companies, the goal of going overseas is to align with battery manufacturers. A materials supplier told Shell Finance, “Where the battery manufacturers go, we go.”

While Putailai is betting on Southeast Asia, major clients like CATL have been increasing their local investments in recent years.

For example, CATL’s full-industry-chain factory in Indonesia broke ground last July. The project’s annual capacity supports 200,000 to 300,000 electric vehicles and will further expand into energy storage.

In fact, entering Southeast Asia has become a common choice for the lithium battery supply chain. BTR New Material Group, also a negative electrode material manufacturer, started production in Indonesia in 2024 with an annual capacity of 160,000 tons, becoming China’s first overseas base for negative electrode materials.

Previously, Putailai chose Europe, another popular overseas destination for lithium battery companies, as a key site for capacity expansion, planning to build a 100,000-ton lithium-ion anode material integrated production base in Sweden. However, this plan was terminated at the end of 2024, with the company citing disagreements over Swedish regulatory requirements.

The shift in Putailai’s overseas focus is partly driven by practical considerations. SMM lithium analyst Wang Zihan told Shell Finance that Sweden’s strict environmental and safety standards for high-power-consuming projects like anode materials make approval difficult. Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, driven by the development of new energy industries, have more open foreign investment policies, offering tax incentives and green energy subsidies. Local supporting clients are also available.

High debt ratio and “A拆北” to ease financial pressure

According to data from Zhuoshi Consulting, by 2025, the top ten global anode material suppliers will hold 86.4% of the market. The prospectus reveals that, based on shipments, competitors before Putailai include BTR New Material, Shanshan Co., Zhongke Xingcheng, Shantai Technology, Kainuo Energy.

In recent years, the prices of anode materials have experienced significant fluctuations. After 2023, as industry capacity expanded and supply-demand balance improved, prices declined steadily, bottoming out in late 2024. From 2025 onward, the elimination of excess capacity and gradual demand recovery halted the downward trend, with prices rebounding and stabilizing.

Amid intensified market competition, the average selling price of Putailai’s anode materials dropped from 40.5 yuan/kg in 2023 to 30.2 yuan/kg in 2024, and further to 24.5 yuan/kg in 2025, a 40% decrease over two years. The company states that the decline in prices has directly reduced its overseas revenue.

Putailai has not disclosed revenue breakdowns for its anode materials versus coating membranes. Based on disclosed average prices and sales volumes, Shell Finance estimates that membrane coating revenue is nearly twice that of anode materials. The higher gross margin of coating membranes, film materials, and functional materials has contributed to the company’s gross profit margin growth in 2025.

As Putailai prepares for its Hong Kong listing, its financial health has attracted market attention.

Wind data shows that Putailai’s asset-liability ratio has been relatively high among similar companies, and since listing, the total raised funds have also been substantial.

Using indirect financing cash flow calculations, Wind reports that since its IPO, Putailai has raised a total of 48.806 billion yuan, compared to BTR New Material’s 2.603 billion yuan, which listed three years earlier. In 2025 alone, Putailai issued two short-term financing bonds totaling 1.2 billion yuan and a medium-term note of 200 million yuan, all used to repay debt and supplement working capital.

The tight cash flow is also reflected in the pledge of the controlling shareholder’s shares. As of the end of 2025, about 45% of Liang Feng’s holdings in Putailai are pledged.

While rushing to list in Hong Kong, Putailai plans to spin off its automation equipment platform, Jiangsu Jatuo New Energy Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. (“Jatuo Intelligent”), for listing on the Beijing Stock Exchange. Automation equipment accounts for nearly 30% of the company’s total revenue.

Shell Finance notes that Putailai has been continuously supporting Jatuo Intelligent, providing guarantees totaling 1.955 billion yuan as of the end of 2024, representing about one-tenth of the company’s net assets. All seven subsidiaries involved are wholly owned by Jatuo Intelligent.

This spin-off could help alleviate the parent company’s financial pressure, but whether “A拆北” affects the integrity of the company’s H-shares may lead to increased scrutiny from investors.

Beijing News Shell Finance reporter Zhu Yueyi

Editor: Wang Jinyu

Proofreader: Lu Qian