Evergrande Auto to Sell NEVs: Reduce Debt Pressure?

Automotive Author: 王轶群 Editor: 张宇喆 Oct 20, 2021 08:58 AM (GMT+8)

Some analysts believe that the move is to reduce debt and cash flow pressure. There is no response from Evergrande as yet.

Evergrande

On October 19, Evergrande's National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) was reported that it to be negotiating with venture capital companies and industry partners in the United States and Europe to find a new owner. Insiders at Evergrande automobile confirmed the news later. Stefan tilk, CEO of NEVS, said in an interview that several investors had shown interest in the company.

As of the closing of Hong Kong stocks on October 19, the share price of Evergrande Vehicle (0708:HK) fell 8.41% to HKD 3.81 per share, with a market value of CNY 37.22 billion.

According to its semi-annual report, the revenue topped CNY 6.92 billion in the first half of 2021, achieving a year-on-year increase of 53.5%, while the loss increased by 95.9% to CNY 4.82 billion. Among the figures, the new energy vehicle industry accounted for 0.5% of the total revenue (i.e. CNY 37 million), and the rest came from the health management division, totaling CNY 6.886 billion.

On the evening of September 24, Evergrande Vehicle announced that, in view of its liquidity problem, there was a delay in the payment of suppliers and project funds in the Health Valley projects and the supporting living space of new energy vehicles, contributing to the suspension of some related projects.

Meanwhile, the company announced that it was contacting different potential strategic investors to introduce new investors to the group. Some discussions with potential investors to sell some Health Valley projects and overseas assets with the aim of improving overall efficiency and supplementing working capital are also underway.

In January 2019, Evergrande acquired 51% of the equity of NEVS, and then acquired its remaining equity twice. NEVS was founded in Sweden by Jiang Dalong in 2012. In August of the same year, it acquired Saab Automobile Company of Sweden, then entered the Chinese market and established National Electric Automobile Co., Ltd. and manufacturing base in Tianjin.

In January 2017, NEVS was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission to obtain the ninth new pure electric vehicle production qualification license. At the same time, the company is also a pure electric passenger vehicle manufacturer approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.