Cornerstone investors, including Xpeng and Tianqi Lithium, have agreed to subscribe for a total of about HK$5.8 billion in CALB shares.

Chinese power battery maker CALB plans to offer about 265.8 million shares in a Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) in a price range of HK$38 -51 per share, according to a prospectus Friday.

That means the company, the rival of China's largest power battery maker CATL, will raise as much as HK$13.6 billion ($1.7 billion) in the Hong Kong listing.

CALB's sharing offering will run from September 23 to September 28, with an expected pricing date of September 28 and an expected listing date of October 6.

Cornerstone investors, including Xpeng Motors and Tianqi Lithium, have agreed to subscribe for a total of about HK$5.8 billion of the company's shares.

The company plans to use about 80 percent of the funds for the construction of new production facilities, about 10 percent for technology research and development, and another 10 percent for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Founded on December 8, 2015 and headquartered in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, CALB currently has six manufacturing sites in China with an effective capacity of 35 GWh in 2022 and an estimated 90 GWh in 2023.

So far this year, CALB has announced production expansions in regions including Guangdong, Fujian, Sichuan and Hubei.

After all the projects under construction are completed, the company will have as many as 10 power battery and energy storage system production bases, including Changzhou, Luoyang, Xiamen, Chengdu, Wuhan, Hefei, Heilongjiang, Guangzhou, Jiangmen and Meishan.

According to the company's plans, its power battery target capacity will reach 500 GWh by 2025, with a projected capacity of 1 TWh by 2030.

CALB's revenue was RMB 1.7 billion, RMB 2.8 billion and RMB 6.8 billion in 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively, representing a compound annual growth rate of 98.3 percent.

The company's revenue in 2021 came from power batteries, energy storage systems and others, accounting for 89 percent, 6.5 percent and 4.5 percent of total revenue, respectively.

CALB reported losses of RMB 156 million and RMB 18.3 million in 2019 and 2020, respectively. in 2021, the company realized a profit of RMB 112 million.

CALB is currently the third largest power battery manufacturer in China, with an installed volume share of 5.62 percent in August, behind CATL's 46.79 percent and BYD's 21.91 percent, according to the China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance.

Notably, CATL sued CALB earlier this year, accusing the latter of infringing on its patents.

Last week, CALB vice president Wang Xiaoqiang said the lawsuit did not have a material impact on the company's IPO.

After Xpeng made the G9 SUV official earlier this week, an executive said CATL is no longer the company's largest battery supplier.

On Thursday, CALB said in a post on its official WeChat account that it customized a battery product solution for the Xpeng G9, and that the model's launch signaled a further deepening of the two companies' strategic partnership.

Previously, CALB had been the preferred supplier for the Xpeng P7 and P5 sedans, and the company also supplied the G3i, at one point supplying 83 percent of the model this year, the battery maker said.

CATL rival CALB hints it has become XPeng's main battery supplier