CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited) - Visual China file photo
There has been a new development in the multi-billion yuan share reduction by Huang Shilin, co-founder and third-largest shareholder of CATL (300750.SZ/03750.HK), a leading domestic lithium battery manufacturer. On the evening of November 17, CATL announced that, based on the subscription results of the day, the preliminary determined transfer price for this inquiry was 376.12 yuan per share.
Late on November 14th, CATL issued an announcement that sent shockwaves through the market. According to the announcement, Huang Shilin, co-founder and major shareholder of CATL, planned to sell 45.6324 million shares of the company, representing 1% of the company's total share capital, through a negotiated transfer due to his own funding needs.
Based on CATL's closing price of 404.12 yuan per share on November 14, the market value of this share reduction is as high as approximately 18.44 billion yuan.
Huang Shilin currently directly holds 466 million shares of CATL, accounting for 10.21% of the total share capital. The 45.6324 million shares to be transferred represent approximately 9.79% of his personal holdings. After the transfer, he will still be CATL's third-largest shareholder.
However, unlike conventional share reduction methods, this transfer bypassed the secondary market and adopted a negotiated transfer method, which is only open to qualified institutional investors.
In its latest announcement on November 17, CATL also emphasized that this negotiated transfer is a non-public transfer, not conducted through centralized bidding or block trading, and does not constitute a reduction of holdings through the secondary market. The shares acquired through this negotiated transfer cannot be transferred within six months of the acquisition.
According to the announcement, a total of 55 valid bids were received for this price inquiry and transfer, covering professional institutional investors such as fund management companies, qualified foreign institutional investors, insurance companies, securities companies, and private fund managers. The total number of shares validly subscribed by institutional investors participating in this price inquiry and transfer was 146,500,000, corresponding to an effective subscription multiple of 3.2 times.
The announcement stated that the shares to be transferred in this inquiry and transfer have been fully subscribed, and the transferees have been preliminarily determined to be 16 institutional investors, with a total of 45,632,363 shares to be transferred.
It is worth mentioning that the aforementioned share reduction event has attracted market attention not only because the market value of the shares being reduced is as high as tens of billions of yuan, but also because the shareholder Huang Shilin, who is to transfer the shares, is not an ordinary major shareholder.
Huang Shilin and Zeng Yuqun, chairman of CATL, have a deep connection. According to public information, the two are from Ningde, Fujian Province, and were also high school classmates. In 1991, Huang Shilin received an invitation from Zeng Yuqun to join Dongguan Xinke Magnetoelectric Factory. Since then, the two have been business partners, and in 2011, they returned to their hometown to co-found CATL.
During his tenure at CATL, Huang Shilin successively served as the company's R&D director, general manager, vice chairman, and vice general manager, and was known as the "second-in-command" within CATL. However, in August 2022, CATL announced that Huang Shilin had applied to resign from his positions as vice chairman, director, member of the board's strategy committee, and vice general manager, and would no longer hold any position in the company.
Although Huang Shilin did not reduce his holdings through the secondary market this time, the market still reacted. On November 17, CATL's A-shares opened nearly 4% lower, and fell by more than 5% during the day, with its market value once evaporating by more than 100 billion yuan. By the close of trading that day, CATL's stock price was 390.78 yuan per share, down 3.30%.
