China’s biggest electric carmaker is to gain a stock market listing in an asset swap valuing the state-backed manufacturer at 28.8 billion yuan (US$4.5 billion), giving investors a chance to bet more directly on the world’s largest market for new-energy vehicles.
One of BAIC Group’s (北汽集團) publicly traded affiliates, Chengdu Qian Feng Electronics Co (成都前鋒電子), is to buy Beijing Electric Vehicle Co (BJEV, 北京新能源汽車) in a stock sale and asset-swap deal.
As part of the plan, Qian Feng is to sell 761.1 million shares at 37.66 yuan apiece to all BJEV shareholders for the acquisition, the BAIC subsidiary said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Monday.
Photo: Reuters
BJEV is to become the first state-owned manufacturer of new-energy vehicles to list on a Chinese stock exchange, competing for attention from investors who have driven up the share price of BYD Co (比亞迪), a Warren Buffett-backed automaker that trades in China and Hong Kong.
BJEV — which is disclosing a valuation publicly for the first time — is among companies raising funds and expanding to get a head start as China’s government encourages more clean-energy vehicles to hit the roads.
Shares of BAIC Motor Corp Ltd (北京汽車) yesterday rose as much as 5.4 percent in Hong Kong, the biggest intraday gain this month.
BJEV’s sales of electric vehicles almost doubled to 103,199 last year.
The company said it last year boosted its share of the Chinese electric vehicle market to an estimated 23 percent, from 15 percent in 2016.
BJEV raised 11 billion yuan in its latest round of fundraising announced in July last year, mainly from state-owned companies, following a 3 billion yuan round in 2016.
China in 2015 surpassed the US to become the world’s biggest market for new-energy vehicles as both traditional automakers and a bevy of start-ups work to meet the government’s target to boost yearly sales of plug-in hybrids and fully electric cars 10-fold in the next decade.
China has made electric vehicles a strategic initiative as part of its push to lead in automotive technology, curb pollution and cut dependence on imported oil.
At this month’s CES trade show — a global stage to showcase the latest developments in consumer electronics — more than one-third of the 4,500 exhibitors were from China.
Byton (拜騰), a brand of Nanjing, China-based Future Mobility Corp Ltd, which was started by former BMW AG executives, unveiled a US$45,000 sport utility vehicle.
Within days, XPeng Motors (小鵬汽車), backed by funding from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴), unveiled a production model.
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