Chinese electric-car start-up Nio seeks IPO even as Musk plans to take Tesla private
Shanghai-based Nio is seeking a US$1.8 billion IPO. The electric carmaker made a net loss of US$502.6 million in the first half of this year.
NIO, the electric vehicle start-up backed by Tencent Holdings, is seeking to be the first Chinese carmaker to list in the US, at a time when Elon Musk-led Tesla Inc. is seeking to go private.
The Shanghai-based company, which is seeking a US$1.8 billion IPO, disclosed a US$502.6 million net loss in the first half of this year in a regulatory filing made public on Monday. Nio had revenues of less than US$7 million as it ramps up production and sales of its first vehicles.
As of the end of July, NIO had delivered 481 ES8s, the company’s first production model launched in December. The company is still fulfilling more than 17,000 reservations, of which 12,000 were reserved with an initial refundable deposit of 5,000 yuan (US$725).
The 7-seater high-performance sports vehicle has a base price of 448,000 yuan before subsidies, or about half the price of a Tesla Model X after import duties are added, and comes with a driver-help system featuring highway pilot, traffic jam pilot and automatic emergency braking.
Founded in 2014, NIO counts Tencent as its biggest institutional investor, with a 15.2 per cent stake, followed by Hillhouse Capital’s 7.5 per cent. Other investors include Baidu Capital, Shunwei Capital, a venture capital co-founded by Xiaomi founder Lei Jun, and Baillie Gifford. Nio’s founder and chairman William Li Bin holds a 17.2 per cent stake.