The rumors turned into reality, Volkswagen Group finally purchased the China stock listed company GOTION Hi-Tech. On the evening of May 28, GOTION Hi-Tech issued multiple announcements stating that Volkswagen China and GOTION Hi-Tech’s controlling shareholder Zhuhai GOTION and actual controller Li Zhen signed the “Share Transfer Agreement.”
According to the relevant agreements signed, Zhuhai GOTION and Li Zhen will transfer their shares to Volkswagen China. Listed companies will also raise funds through non-public issuance of shares, and the number of issues does not exceed 30% of the company’s total share capital before the issue.
It is reported that GOTION Hi-Tech will raise a total amount of funds of no more than 7.306 billion yuan through this offering. Volkswagen China, as a subscriber, has a total subscription of no less than 6 billion yuan. The net proceeds will be used for GOTION Battery’s annual output of 16GWh high energy density lithium battery industrialization project, GOTION Battery Material’s annual output of 30,000 tons of high nickel ternary cathode material project and supplementary working capital.
After the conversion and fundraising are completed, Volkswagen China will become GOTION Hi-Tech’s largest shareholder, accounting for 26.47% of GOTION Hi-Tech’s total share capital; Li Zhen and its concerted parties are the second-largest shareholders, accounting for 18.20% of the total share capital.
In this cooperation, Volkswagen China, as a strategic investor, invests in GOTION Hi-tech, both parties will carry out strategic cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, give play to their respective advantages, enhance GOTION Hi-tech’s core competitiveness in the field of new energy batteries, and achieve Synergy in the new energy battery business.
Volkswagen ’s electrified layout is very clear, it plans to launch 50 pure electric models by 2025. Among them, more than 30 new energy vehicles will be launched in China, such as the pure electric SUV Volkswagen ID.4 will be the first to be produced in China. In the next 10 years, the total output of Volkswagen’s new energy vehicles is expected to reach 22 million. Some organizations predict that Volkswagen’s annual demand for power batteries will exceed 100GWh after 2025,.
As early as January of this year, rumors of Volkswagen’s acquisition of GOTION Hi-Tech shares were endless. This time, Volkswagen China said that it is expected to pay about 1.1 billion euros for this investment. At present, Volkswagen’s power battery suppliers in the Chinese market are mainly CATL. At this point, Volkswagen will become the first foreign car company to directly hold shares in Chinese battery manufacturer.
