BEIJING, December 18 (TMTPost)— Nio Inc. boost its firepower from a investor backed by the Abu Dhabi government, six months after the same Middle East firm agreed to invest in the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker.

Credit：Visual China

The American depository receipts (ADPs) rose as much as 8.3% intraday and closed 4.6% higher on Monday after Nio announced its new investment deal. Nio has signed a share subscription agreement with CYVN Holdings L.L.C., an investment vehicle majority owned by the Abu Dhabi Government, according to statement that day. Under the agreement, CYVN will invest an aggregate of US$2.2 billion in cash to subscribe for 294,000,000 newly issued Nio’s Class A ordinary shares at price of US7.50 per share.  

This is CYVN’s second equity investment in Nio and the Middle East firm is set to input a total of US$3.3 billion over half of a year. Nio said in June that CYVN agreed to subscribe 84,695,543 new Class A ordinary shares for US$8.72 apiece, suggesting an investment of US$738.5 million and purchase 40,137,614 Class A ordinary shares owned by an affiliate of Tencent, one of Nio’s existing shareholders. The investment through these deals totals about US$1.1 billion. A month later, Nio received a US$738.5 million strategic equity investment from CYVN, and CYVN acquired certain Class A ordinary shares from an affiliate of Tencent Holdings Ltd. for an aggregate consideration of US$350 million.

The latest deal is expected to take place in the final week of December. Upon completion of the investment transaction, CYVN will own 419 million issued and outstanding shares of Nio, up from 125 million shares at the end of the third quarter, and become the largest single shareholder with a 20.1% stake, surpassing Nio Chairman and CEO William Li, or Li Bin. Li will remain the controller as he owns the super-voting shares--Class C shares, whose holders have 8 votes per Class A Share. CYVN will be entitled to nominate two directors to Nio’s board of directors so long as it continues to beneficially own no less than 15% of the EV manufacturer’s outstanding share capital. And if owing a stake less than 15% but more than 5%, the Abu Dhabi company will have the right to nominate one director.

Nio, CYVN and its affiliates will continue to work jointly to pursue strategic and technology collaborations in international markets following the December investment deal, according to the deal. “With the enhanced balance sheet, NIO is well prepared to sharpen brand positioning, bolster sales and service capabilities, and make long-term investment in core technologies to navigate the intensifying competitive landscape, while continually improving execution efficiency and system capabilities,” said William Bin Li. “We are confident that NIO will further solidify its leading position in the transformation of the automotive industry.” 

The transaction demonstrates our confidence in NIO’s unique positioning and competitiveness in the global smart EV industry. We are excited to be a long-term strategic partner of NIO and support its efforts in product innovation, technological breakthroughs and international market expansion, Jassem Al Zaabi, Chairman and Managing Director of CYVN.

The new investment came as Nio has taken steps to reduce costs and  improve efficiency. The Shanghai-based EV company, Founded in 2014,has never turned around and posted less-than-expected loss in the quarter ended September. Basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share in the third quarter stood at RMB2.67 (US$0.37), compared with analysts’ estimated RMB2.91.That was larger than the RMB2.53 per share loss a year earlier but smaller than the loss of RMB3.7 in the previous quarter.

On an earnings call with analysts, William Li said his company decided to optimize the organization and improve execution efficiency as it found there some some inefficiencies within the orgniaziton. Specifically, the firm will hold off and scaled down those projects without any improvement in financial performance in three years, Li said. The chief executive announced last month a layoff that affects 10% of employees. The coming two years will be the most competitive period during an ongoing transition of the auto industry, and the broader environment is filled with elevated uncertainties, Li noted. Earlier this month, Nio was reported to further cut jobs and could widen the original dismissal to 20% to 30%. The company later denied the report and said will continue conduct “dynamic adjustments” in markets where it operates.

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