VW will buy 20% of Chinese battery maker Guoxuan
Volkswagen Group will take a 20 percent stake in Chinese electric-vehicle battery maker Guoxuan High-tech, two sources told Reuters, as the automaker accelerates its electric push into the world’s largest auto market.
The deal would mark Volkswagen’s first direct ownership in a Chinese battery maker and comes as the automaker strives to meet a goal of selling 1.5 million new energy vehicles (NEVs) a year in China by 2025, including plug-in hybrid cars.
VW, the top-selling foreign automaker in China, plans to acquire the stake in Shenzhen-listed Guoxuan via a discounted private share placement in the coming weeks, the two sources with knowledge of the matter said.
Based on Guoxuan’s market capitalization of $2.8 billion, a 20 percent stake in the company at present is worth about $560 million.
The deal’s details have been mostly finalized and the two companies are waiting for new Chinese regulatory rules on private share placements that will provide a more flexible pricing mechanism and shorter lock-up periods for majority shareholders, said one of the people, speaking on condition of anonymity.
After the stake purchase, Volkswagen will become the battery maker’s second-largest shareholder with a 20 percent stake, behind Zhuhai Guoxuan Trading, a company controlled by Guoxuan’s founder Li Zhen, which currently holds 25 percent.
Guoxuan High Tech Guoxuan High-Tech Leaps 10% on Reported Volkswagen Buy-In (Yicai Global) Jan. 17 — Shares in electric vehicle battery maker Guoxuan High-Tech hit the 10 percent daily limit up this afternoon after reports that German auto giant Volkswagen was planning to buy a 20 percent stake. Its stock price [SHE:002074] had hit the threshold, CNY18.79 (USD2.73), by 1.15 p.m. and has remained there since, giving it a market cap of CNY21.4 billion (USD3.1 billion). Reuters reported earlier today that Volkswagen would buy a 20 percent stake in Guoxuan as it accelerates its new-energy push into the world’s largest… Read more »
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