The Japan-headquartered EV battery manufacturer, controlled by China’s Envision Group and backed by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, is mulling an IPO in Hong Kong that could raise up to $2 billion, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. The move marks a significant change from earlier plans to list in the US.
Envision AESC, the electric vehicle battery maker backed by Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and controlled by Chinese clean energy company Envision Group, is considering a Hong Kong IPO that could raise up to $2 billion, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Considerations are at an early stage, the people said. The reported potential listing in Hong Kong represents a marked departure from the company’s previously stated ambition to list in the United States.
AESC has a complex ownership and geographic identity. The company was originally formed in 2007 as a joint venture between Nissan Motor and NEC to supply batteries for Nissan’s Leaf electric vehicle.
The 💜 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
In 2018, Shanghai-based Envision Group, a Chinese clean energy conglomerate led by founder and chairman Zhang Lei, acquired a controlling stake; Nissan retained a minority position.
Envision, which also owns renewable energy businesses and AIoT platforms, raised more than $1 billion from GIC, Sequoia Capital (via Sequoia China), and Primavera Capital in 2021. AESC’s manufacturing footprint spans Japan, the United States (Smyrna, Tennessee), the United Kingdom (Sunderland), and Europe.
The Sunderland plant is one of the UK’s largest battery manufacturing facilities, making AESC a company with significant European industrial presence despite its Chinese ownership.
In Bloomberg’s October 2023 reporting on a then-planned US IPO, people familiar with the matter described AESC’s Chinese ownership as a complicating factor given US Inflation Reduction Act rules on Foreign Entities of Concern, a designation that would disqualify EV battery makers with Chinese government ties from tax credits. That concern appears to have contributed to the reported shift toward a Hong Kong listing.
Hong Kong’s IPO market has rebounded sharply in 2025 and 2026, reaching the top global position in IPO funds raised in 2025 with HK$285.8 billion raised across 119 listings, according to PwC.
The first quarter of 2026 alone saw HK$110 billion raised, a record for any single quarter since Q2 2021, driven by hard-tech and AI company listings. A $2 billion AESC raise would rank among the larger listings in the current Hong Kong cycle, though Bloomberg described the considerations as preliminary and noted that details including the size and timing could change.
