Chinese electric vehicle maker Hozon Auto has reportedly been preparing for an initial public offering in Hong Kong since late last year. A number of cornerstone investors, who commit in advance to invest a fixed amount of money or purchase a fixed number of shares in an IPO, have subscribed for about RMB 2 billion ($278 million) in total, D1EV reported on Monday. The Shanghai-headquartered automaker has worked with several major investment banks, including Morgan Stanley and China International Capital Corporation (CICC), for a stock market listing that could raise up to $1 billion, according to a Sept. 1 report by Reuters. Hozon, also known as Neta and backed by Chinese batter giant CATL, delivered roughly 127,500 EVs last year, representing a 16% decline compared with 2022. In a post published on Feb. 24 on the Chinese Twitter-like platform Weibo, which was later deleted without explanation, chief executive Zhang Yong mentioned plans to review staff rosters to determine who will stay in place and who will be laid off as part of a cost-cutting drive. [TechNode reporting, D1EV, in Chinese]
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