A Shenzhen-based Chinese manufacturing industry leader is attempting to open the doors of the New York Stock Exchange.
Longdian Huaxin New Energy Technology Group plans to issue approximately 3.57 million American depositary shares, with a pricing range of $20 to $22 per share. The maximum fundraising amount is estimated at about $78.6 million, corresponding to a valuation of up to $1.7 billion. The stock code is ‘FOIL’. If this transaction is successfully completed, although it may not be a large-scale deal, it could become the largest IPO for a Chinese company in New York in over a year.
Longdian Huaxin's "world-leading" status needs to be qualified: According to the company's prospectus citing Frost Sullivan's report, its lithium battery copper foil sales in 2025 will be approximately 112,000 tons, with a market share of 7.6%, ranking first in the world. Copper foil is used as the current collector for lithium battery anodes and is also an important material for high-end circuit boards. Its customers include LG New Energy, SK On, Samsung SDI, Panasonic, as well as Ningde Times, BYD, and Xinwangda. The South Korean SK Group also holds a 29.5% stake in the company.
In fact, since 2021, the number of Chinese companies going public in the US has been on a downward trend. After Didi Go’s listing, it quickly encountered cybersecurity reviews and was eventually delisted. The conflict between Chinese and US auditing regulations also led to hundreds of Chinese-listed stocks facing the risk of forced delisting. Although both sides reached an agreement on auditing inspections in 2022, which temporarily alleviated the threat of collective delistings, market confidence did not recover immediately. Subsequent listings in the US were not back to zero, but they were mainly supported by smaller issuers, with large-scale transactions being scarce for a long time. By early 2026, the number of Chinese companies going public in the US had significantly decreased again. Therefore, Longdian Huaxin raised less than $80 million, but it could become the largest Chinese-funded IPO in New York in over a year—this “largest” is more of a testament to the deep freeze in the market rather than a sign that the window has been reopened.
So, why doesn’t this leading Chinese manufacturing company list on the A-share or Hong Kong stock market? Instead, it chooses to go through New York?
Firstly, this is not a temporary change of strategy. Longdian Huaxin established its Cayman Holding Company back in 2022, with the aim of building a framework for overseas financing and listing. Its deep stake held by South Korean capital, along with important relationships with Japanese and Korean clients, made it from the beginning not just a copper foil company targeting the domestic market. Listing on the New York Stock Exchange serves both the purpose of financing and seeking a more international valuation and credit label within the global battery industry chain.
Secondly, “being the number one in sales” does not mean “having no money shortage”. The copper foil industry is a typical capital-intensive manufacturing sector, which requires continuous expansion, updating equipment, and developing thinner, stronger products. In 2025, Longdian Huaxin’s revenue reached 10.94 billion yuan, but its net profit was only 20.3 million yuan, with a net profit margin of approximately 0.2%. In 2024, it even suffered a loss of 290 million yuan. It wasn’t until the first quarter of 2026 that, with an increase in processing costs and a higher proportion of high-end products, its revenue reached 4.07 billion yuan, with a net profit of 134 million yuan.
Its problem is not the lack of orders, but rather the large scale and thin profits. Before 2025, the top five customers accounted for 63.6% of the revenue. Fluctuations in copper prices and industry concentration will also compress processing costs. The funds raised this time will be used for global capacity expansion, equipment upgrading, and research and development. Essentially, it is a strategy to secure capital ahead of an industry that is on the rise.
But New York is not an easy shortcut.
Longdian Huaxin has completed the registration for listing overseas with the China Securities Regulatory Commission in December 2025. However, the fields of new energy and high-end electronic materials are precisely in areas where the US supply chain is localized and where policy scrutiny against China is particularly intense. American investors will not only examine financial data but also pay attention to auditing regulations, corporate governance, customer concentration, as well as the impact of changes in Sino-US policies on their global operations.
More subtly, the capital that is contributing to this IPO is mainly Chinese. Investors such as Jiasi International and Haichen Energy Storage have expressed interest in subscribing for a total of $87 million, which exceeds the basic issuance scale. This indicates that there has been significant pre-approval for the deal. Even if the listing is successful, it cannot be simply interpreted as an American capital re-embracing Chinese stocks.
Therefore, Longdian Huaxin's IPO in the US is not only a global financing opportunity but also a sensitive market test. It aims to use New York as a backing for its overseas expansion. Wall Street will have to determine whether this Chinese manufacturing leader, positioned at a key point in the new energy supply chain, represents a valuable industrial asset, or merely an investment that requires additional consideration due to geopolitical factors.
