Hong Kong's first SPAC Aquila aiming for $1b

Aquila Acquisition (7836), Hong Kong's first special purpose acquisition company, is aiming to raise about HK$1 billion after setting its offering price at HK$1.05 million per board lot.

The China Merchants Bank-backed SPAC is offering 100.065 million Class A Shares at HK$10 apiece as well as 50.0325 million listed warrants. The warrant code of the listed warrants will be 4836.

The blank cheque firm expected to debut this Friday after announcing its initial public offering results on Thursday.

The funds will be used to buy a tech-enabled company in "new economy" sectors like green energy and life sciences, it said in a regulatory filing.

The Class A Shares will represent 80 percent of the total shares in issue while CMB's unit holds 90 percent of promoter shares in the SPAC. Morgan Stanley and CMB International Capital are joint sponsors of Aquila's offering.

Meanwhile, state-owned China Aviation Lithium Battery Technology has submitted an application to list in Hong Kong.

Bloomberg earlier reported the Jiangsu-based electric vehicle battery maker aims to raise up to US$1.5 billion (HK$11.7 billion), which is expected to be the largest IPO in the city so far this year.

CALB is working with Huatai Securities on the listing and the share sale could happen in the coming months, the report said.

China Lithium makes lithium batteries for EVs and other products, which operates eight production bases in China.