Asian Tech Press (Nov 17) -- Avatar, a new premium electric vehicle brand jointly built by Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer Chang'an Automobile Co., Ltd., Huawei and Tesla battery supplier CATL, will reportedly start Series A financing soon and plans to go public independently in the future.
Tan Benhong, chairman and CEO of Avatar Technology, said in an interview with Chinese state-run newspaper Securities Daily on Monday, "Avatar Technology will soon start Series A financing, and there are plans for an independent listing in the future."
The new high-end EV brand, jointly built by three Chang'an Automobile, telecom firm Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. and battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL) , three industry giants in China, launched its first product "Avatar 11" on Nov. 15.
Tan introduced that Huawei will empower Avatar in the field of intelligent vehicle solutions, including intelligent driving, intelligent cabin, intelligent network connection, intelligent vehicle cloud, etc. And CATL will support Avatar in the field of battery, motor and electric control system, energy management, charging network, etc.
In addition, Tan also said that both before and after the capital increase and share expansion, Avatar will develop and operate independently in the market, and aggregate the advantages of all parties to create a CHN EV technology platform.
The predecessor of Avatar Technology goes back to a 50:50 joint venture between Chang'an Automobile and Shanghai-based electric car maker Nio Inc., which was contracted in December 2017. And in June last year, Chang'an Automobile diluted Nio's stake with a capital increase, followed by the introduction of CATL this year with an additional capital increase.
In May 2021, Chang'an Auto announced that Changan-Nio joint venture was renamed to Avatar Technology, and will be fully market-oriented, independently operated and developed.
On November 6, Chang‘an Automobile announced the successful completion of the first round of strategic financing, Avatar finally confirmed three investors, namely CATL and Fujian Mindong Times consortium, Chongqing Chengan private equity investment fund and Chongqing Liangjiang Southwest Securities consortium, Southern Industrial Capital Management and Chongqing South Industries consortium. After the completion of the capital increase, Avatar changed from a controlling subsidiary of Chang'an Automobile to an associate.
At present, regarding the shareholding structure of Avatar, Chang'an Automobile accounts for 39.02% and CATL accounts for 23.99%, which are the two largest shareholders, while the shares of Nio have been diluted to 1.13%.
It is worth mentioning that Huawei does not have a stake in Avatar Technology, which is in line with the principle that Huawei has always stressed that it will not become a shareholder of any partner car company by way of investment and equity participation.
