As foreign power battery companies have once again blown the horn of entering the Chinese market. Domestic player speeds up the cooperation with auto giants.
Recently, Daimler Group announced that the group has officially reached an agreement with Farasis Energy (孚能科技) to purchase lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. At present, the company is building a factory in eastern Germany and will provide power batteries to Mercedes-Benz in the future.
For the purchase of power batteries, Daimler CEO Zetsche has said that after spending billions of euros to develop the electrification business and expand the global battery network, Daimler is now taking the next step: buying batteries for more than 20 billion euros. In 2022, it plans to produce 130 electric models at Mercedes-Benz. In addition, there are electric vans, buses and trucks apart from the passenger vehicles.
The strategic development direction of C·A·S·E formed by the four pillars of Connected, Autonomous, Shared & Services and Electric Drive, which is the core goal of Daimler Group's future brand development. Under the huge electric vehicle plan, battery supply is particularly critical, Daimler Group announced plans to purchase more than 20 billion euros of cells by 2030. At the same time, it plans to invest more than 1 billion euros to build a global battery production network in China, Germany, and the United States.
At present, Mercedes-Benz has nine battery factories completed or under construction in Europe, Asia, and North America. At the 2019 Frankfurt International Motor Show, Daimler put forward the "carbon neutral" production target. In 2030, new energy vehicles will account for more than 50% of passenger car sales.
It is reported that the company's current energy density in lithium batteries, soft pack batteries and batteries is more prominent, coupled with fund-raising CNY 500 billion from China's state-owned venture capital (Guo Fengtou) and other investors. Farasis Energy is likely to rely on the background of this state-owned assets to enhance its business development. At present, Guoxin (国信) is the largest shareholder of Farasis, accounting for about 35% of the shares.
Recently, the official website of the Jiangxi Securities Regulatory Bureau showed that Huatai Securities submitted the 'Summary Report on the Initial Public Offering of Farasis Energy', which means that the company's IPO on the Star board has made new progress. The report shows that in the first half of this year, the company achieved operating revenue of CNY 1.01 billion and net profit of CNY 51.81 million. In the three years from 2016 to 2018, it achieved revenues of CNY 469 million, CNY 1.34 billion and CNY 2.276 billion respectively.
Chinese power battery makers are facing more fierce competition with the gradual liberalization of foreign investment policies, especially the elimination of the 'white list' of power batteries, battery companies in Japan and South Korea have made a comeback, once again blew the horn of entering the Chinese market. IPO plan might be a critical point for them to secure sufficient cash inflow.