Shenzhen-listed Tianqi Lithium has raised about HK$13.5 billion (US$1.71) billion in a secondary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, according to the Financial Times.
The British daily newspaper reported that South Korea's LG Chem, a diversified chemical company, was a "cornerstone" investor in the IPO, which saw Tianqi sell about 164 million shares at about HK$82 ($10.45) apiece.
The share sale - the Hong Kong bourse's largest of the year - underscores the appetite for battery-grade lithium, a key component in energy storage and electric vehicles.
In May, Tianqi and its Australian joint-venture partner IGO (ASX: IGO), announced first production of battery-grade lithium hydroxide at the JV's Kwinana lithium hydroxide refinery near Perth in Western Australia.
Tianqi Lithium holds a 51% stake in Kwinana and IGO the remaining 49%.
The plant will use lithium concentrates from Talison Lithium to produce lithium chemicals. Talison, a private company formed in 2009 is now owned by Tianqi Lithium and IGO (51%) and Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) (49%).
Talison was formed in 2009 and its predecessor companies have been producing lithium at the Greenbushes mine in the southwest region of Western Australia since 1983.
In addition to its assets held in a JV with IGO, Tianqi Lithium operates three chemical plants in the Chinese provinces of Jiangsu, Sichuan and Chongqing, and acquired the majority of Nutrien's shares in Chilean lithium producer SQM (NYSE: SQM) in December 2018. (It bought a 23.8% stake in SQM at a price of US$65 per share for US$4.1 billion.) Tianqi Lithium also holds a 2.25% stake in XTC New Energy, a manufacturer of cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries.
Among its other assets are spodumene deposits at the Cuola mine in Sichuan province.