NIO has made money again!
Abu Dhabi CYLN Holdings has made another move, investing US$2.2 billion to subscribe for an equity stake in NIO.
This means that the CYVN will start with 201% of the shares, replacing Li Bin, the founder of NIO, as the largest single shareholder of NIO.
At the same time, NIO has also achieved a cumulative financing level of 100 billion yuan, firmly grasping the title of "the most gold-absorbing new force in car manufacturing".
Putting aside low-level conspiracy theories such as "cashing out and running away", the change of NIO's largest shareholder should be combined with the current international situation in addition to the purpose of obtaining funds.
With the EU launching a countervailing investigation on China's electric vehicles, France and Turkey have begun to impose restrictions on China's new energy vehicles, China's auto industry has ushered in the strongest export wave in history, but it will also face the problem of "going to the next level".
Since its inception, NIO has wanted to position itself globally. Bringing in more overseas investors will help NIO promote its brands to go global more easily in the future.
Changes and discernments of the largest shareholders
NIO's significant shareholders have increased their equity purchases again.
On December 18, NIO announced that it had signed an equity subscription agreement with Abu Dhabi-based CYVN Holdings, under which CYVN Holdings would invest $2.2 billion in cash through its affiliate CYVN to subscribe for 29.4 billion new Class A ordinary shares of the Company will be issued, and upon completion of the transaction, CYVN will hold approximately 20% of the total outstanding shares of NIO1%。
There are four highlights of this transaction.
First of all, this is not the first time that CYVN has taken a stake in NIO.
In June 2023, CYVN invested about US$1.1 billion in NIO. Due to the industry's concern about NIO's long-term losses at that time, the Middle East capital represented by CYVN became a promising new investor in China, which can be called another "knight" who rushed to NIO's aid after Hefei state-owned assets.
Secondly, the change in stock price means that CYVN is optimistic that this is a good opportunity to buy shares.
In June of this year, the company started with 8$72 per share of **, up 124.8 billion NIO shares**. With this latest investment, NIO's share price is about 7$50 per share.
CYVN is optimistic about the subsequent return of NIO's share price," people familiar with the matter told Auto Commune, while also pointing out that this is the "bullishness" of Middle Eastern capital on the future trend of China's auto industry and overall economic development.
The third highlight is the change of NIO's largest shareholder.
According to the statistics provided by Futu, as of the end of Q3 2023, NIO's largest shareholder is a shareholding of 930%（1.6.5 billion shares), and the top five shareholders are Abu Dhai (Emirate of), Tencent Holdings, Baiji Investment, and BlackRock.
The fourth highlight is that NIO has consolidated the halo of the most gold-absorbing new force.
After the completion of this investment, CYVN has invested approximately US$3.3 billion in NIO.
This also announced that NIO, which was established in 2014, has accumulated financing of more than 100 billion yuan, reaching 115 billion yuan. Among them, the cumulative financing through the primary market before the IPO reached 2.2 billion US dollars, or about 15 billion yuan.
The problem of internationalization requires "self-internationalization".
When Li Bin is no longer the largest shareholder of NIO, will the fears of certain views come true?
Will Li Bin lose control of NIO?Will you cash out and run away as a founder?Can NIO still develop according to the path set by Li Bin?
This involves the characteristics of U.S. stocks.
U.S.-listed companies often adopt a two-tier equity system, that is, a and b equity structure with weighted voting rights. For example, Ford Motor is a typical example of one of the auto stocks.
Although Li Bin is no longer the largest shareholder in terms of the dividend share ratio, he can still retain the right of veto through the AB share system and control the development track of NIO.
It is impossible for CYVN not to know that Li Bin is the core soul of NIO.
So is NIO's intention to attract new investment from CYVN just for more money?
This needs to be seen in conjunction with several recent major news.
Recently, the European Union announced the launch of a countervailing investigation against Chinese electric vehicles. Countries such as France and Turkey have also announced independent investigations into China's new energy vehicles, or refused to provide new energy subsidies.
When China promotes the dual circulation of the economy and elevates exports to an unprecedentedly important position, automobile exports will jump to one of the top two in the world in 2022 and are expected to continue to lead. In the face of the momentum of Chinese automobiles, many overseas countries began to be timid and used unconventional non-industrial means to put shackles on Chinese automobiles.
Reuters and Bloomberg also quoted Qin Lihong, president of NIO, as saying that NIO's third brand, Firefly, will enter Europe in 2025.
Since its inception, NIO has wanted to position itself globally. Then, the introduction of more overseas investors will help NIO dilute the pressure caused by its Chinese heritage to overseas markets, and strengthen its ties with overseas, which will help promote its brands to go global more easily in the future.
After all, the "assimilation strategy" of integrating the inside and outside is the friendliest way to break the boundaries.