Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant XPeng Inc (小鵬) yesterday said that it would buy the EV subsidiary of ride-hailing platform Didi Global Inc (滴滴) for HK$5.84 billion (US$744.4 million).
The all-stock deal would see Didi emerge with a 3.25 percent stake in the company, XPeng said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Xpeng said it would also partner with Didi to launch a new EV brand next year.
Photo: AFP
Dubbed Project “MONA,” the vehicles would target the mass market segment with a price tag of about 150,000 yuan (US$20,566), it said.
Markets welcomed the deal, which enables the Chinese manufacturer to eliminate a potential competitor and gain access to its advanced technology. XPeng shares gained 10.9 percent yesterday. The brand — which also markets some of its products in Europe — employs about 14,400 people and has offices in Silicon Valley, California and Amsterdam.
XPeng sold 41,435 vehicles in the first half of this year, down 40 percent year-on-year, results published this month showed.
The partnership with Didi comes just more than a month after Xpeng received a US$700 million investment from German auto giant Volkswagen AG to jointly develop EVs for the Chinese market, and should help ease investor concerns about sluggish sales in the face of intensifying competition from the likes of Nio Inc (蔚來), BYD Co (比亞迪) and Tesla Inc.
Separately, the electronics arm of BYD agreed to buy Jabil Inc’s manufacturing business in China for 15.8 billion yuan, expanding its production base in the world’s largest mobile arena.
BYD Electronic International Co (比亞迪電子) is taking over the US company’s product manufacturing business in Chengdu and Wuxi, China, it said in a statement.
The pact includes the manufacturing of products for existing customers.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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