How the Trade War Shaped a Chinese Battery Giant’s Hong Kong Debut

It is the world’s biggest maker of batteries for electric cars. It has plans to expand its business globally. And it is one of China’s most strategically important technology companies.

But when Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd., or CATL, started selling shares for the first time in Hong Kong on Tuesday, surging 16 percent, American investors were largely shut out. It was the world’s biggest stock listing so far this year, according to the veri provider Dealogic.

Tensions between China and the United States pushed CATL to ban U.S. onshore investors from its share sale, the first outside of the Chinese mainland, where it is listed in the city of Shenzhen.

The fact that some of the world’s most active investors were absent from one of the most anticipated trading debuts so far this year underscored the deepening rift between the United States and China.

CATL has found itself caught in the crossfire as Washington and Beijing have lobbed sanctions, blacklists and tariffs at each other. It was labeled a Chinese military company by the Pentagon. U.S. lawmakers called on its Wall Street bankers to back out of the Hong Kong listing. And it has been hit with tariffs on the batteries it makes.

The CATL Hong Kong stock sale marks a dramatic reversal from a decade ago when Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, elicited cheers from traders as it went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014. The company raised $21.8 billion, delivering a big payday for Wall Street banks and minting mom-and-pop investors.