Chinese EV manufacturer NIO has announced that the company has signed a final transaction document with a non-affiliated Asian investment fund.
NIO Home. Image credit: NIO official website.
According to the document, NIO will issue and sell USD 70 million worth of convertible notes. The completion of the placement is required to meet customary closing conditions and is expected to occur in the second week of February.
Last month, NIO issued another convertible note to another non-affiliated Asian investment fund in a private placement on similar terms. The total principal amount of the convertible notes issued by the two placements was approximately USD 100 million.
It is worth noting that the investors this time are two Asian investment funds placing US USD 70 million and approximately USD 30 million respectively; both are ‘non-affiliated parties,’ who could become pure financial investors. NIO said the move indicates that, as the current Chinese high-end electric vehicle brand, NIO’s value in the regional/international market is still recognized.
The latest outbreak of the coronavirus before the Spring Festival has put some small and medium-sized enterprises under great pressure. NIO has completed a USD 100 million convertible bond financing in a short period, hoping to take the company through these tough times.
In addition, according to Techweb, NIO confirmed that the USD 200 million convertible bond financing mentioned in the Q3 quarterly report of 2019 from Tencent had all been completed. Regarding the major strategic financing expected, NIO responded: “Other financing projects are still underway and positive progress has been made. We will disclose the progress of financing projects in accordance with disclosure requirements. At this stage, NIO’s main focus is on financing projects that bring strategic value to business development and efficiency improvements in China.”
Prior to this, on December 30, NIO had warned in its quarterly report that it did not have adequate cash for continuous operation in the next 12 months and it was looking for external financing. US-listed shares of the electric-car maker then jumped 17% to USD 4.40 in late afternoon trading.
Currently, China’s Tesla-rival has offices in San Jose, Shanghai, Beijing, Munich, London and 6 other locations. The company's director of public relations said last week that, looking ahead, the company plans to focus on China but also hopes to expand into other markets.
At the beginning of January this year, NIO announced that it had delivered a total of 20,565 vehicles last year (among which ES8 delivered 9,132 and ES6 delivered 11,433). This number is similar to Tesla's delivery in 2013, with 22,477 vehicles sent out.
In 2019, Tesla delivered about 367,500 vehicles. From 2012 to 2018, the company's deliveries were 2,650, 22,477, 31,655, 50,580, 76,295, 103,097, and 245,240 respectively.