Chinese battery electric vehicle (BEV) startup Nio Inc, headquartered in Shanghai, has announced it has entered into a definitive agreement with a consortium of domestic investors and existing shareholders to secure CNY3.3bn (US$471m) in new funding for its main manufacturing subsidiary Nio Holding Company – known as Nio China
The fresh capital will help sustain the company’s new technology development and manufacturing operations, which are located in Hefei in neighbouring Anhui province. Nio has two vehicle assembly plants in the province and a third facility was given the go-ahead earlier this year, which would increase the company’s overall annual production capacity to 1 million vehicles.
As a result of this fundraising round Hefei Jianheng New Energy Automobile Investment Fund Partnership, Anhui Provincial Emerging Industry Investment, CS Capital and other shareholders will increase their combined holdings in Nio China from 7.9% to 11.7%, with Nio Inc’s stake reduced to 88.3%.
Nio Inc confirmed it will also “concurrently invest an aggregate of CNY10bn in cash to subscribe to newly issued shares of Nio China. Upon completion of this “Investment Transaction”, Nio will hold 88.3% of controlling equity interest in Nio Chin, while the Strategic Investors together with the other existing shareholders will collectively hold the remaining 11.7% of equity”.
Nio Inc said it also secured the right to invest an additional CNY20bn to subscribe to additional shares in Nio China until the end of 2025, based on the same price and terms of the current “Investment Transaction”.
Nio said in a statement: “This investment not only demonstrates the strategic investors’ firm support for the high-quality development of the electric vehicle industry but also underscores their strong recognition of Nio’s unique values and industry leadership. With an enhanced balance sheet, Nio is strategically positioned to maintain its long-term advantages in technology, products, services and user community, promote its multi-brand strategy and penetrate broader markets, and propel the Company into the next stage of sustainable growth.”
