Chinese electric carmaker Nio plans to invest $1.9 billion

Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio Inc. plans to pump in 13.3 billion yuan ($1.9 billion) into its China unit with a mix of its own cash and strategic investors’ funds, an injection amid an expansion of its charging infrastructure and battery-swapping technology.

A group of strategic investors - including Hefei Jianheng New Energy Automobile Investment Fund Partnership, Anhui Provincial Emerging Industry Investment Co., and CS Capital Co. — has definitive agreements to invest 3.3 billion yuan in cash for newly issued shares of Nio Holding Co., also known as Nio China, according to a company statement Sunday.

Nio Inc. will directly invest an additional 10 billion yuan of cash into new shares of the unit. The transactions from all the parties will reduce the parent’s holding to an 88.3% stake, down from 92.1%. The company said that the strategic investors — along with other stakeholders — will hold the remaining 11.7%.

While China has invested heavily in EVs, intense domestic competition and overseas tariffs have muddied the sector’s outlook. Nio has sought to gain a competitive edge with its charging network and R&D spending on battery-swapping technology, as well as on non-auto areas like semiconductors.

The parties’ cash injections will be done in two instalments and be completed by the end of the year, its statement said.

Nio Inc. will have the right to invest an additional 20 billion yuan to subscribe for more shares in Nio China by the end of next year, based on the same price and terms.

With its cash burn triggering analysts’ concerns, the company, which has never been profitable, reported a 4.5 billion yuan loss for the second quarter. But its quarterly sales surged to 17.5 billion yuan, defying weakening demand and slightly higher than analysts expected.

Hefei Jianheng and Anhui Provincial Emerging Industry Investment are affiliated with the municipal government of Anhui Province. The investors in the region are familiar with Nio, having done a deal for a $1 billion investment in 2020, which at the time alleviated concerns that the company was running out of cash.

In December, Nio also struck a deal to receive $2.2 billion from Abu Dhabi-backed CYVN Holdings LLC.

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