Evergrande Health pays US$155 million for control of electric-car battery maker
- China’s third biggest builder by sales will use its health subsidiary to pay 1.06 billion yuan for 58 per cent of Shanghai CENAT New Energy
- Move marks latest foray into new-energy vehicles for Evergrande, which bought majority stake in an electric carmaker last week
Chinese property giant Evergrande Group bought control of a company that produces electric-car batteries on Thursday, nine days after it took a majority stake in an electric carmaker.
The developer, China’s third biggest by sales, will use its subsidiary Evergrande Health Industry Group to pay 1.06 billion yuan (US$155.88 million) for 58 per cent of Shanghai CENAT New Energy, according to a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange, where it is listed.
Shanghai CENAT is a China-Japan joint venture that makes lithium-ion batteries, a key component that gives electric vehicles greater range than standard power supplies.
An car industry research outfit under the control of the Chinese cabinet and a Japanese maker of lithium-ion rechargeable batteries founded Shanghai CENAT New Energy in May 2010.
The company has production plants in Shanghai, Jiangxi, Guangxi and Jiangsu.
The purchase is “with the aim of completing the layout of [our] new-energy vehicle industry production chain as a whole,” Evergrande Health said.