Geely to take 30% stake in Nio Power in battery swap and charging deal

• The deal values Nio Power at about 16 billion yuan after the investment, with Nio China retaining a controlling 63.6% stake.
• Nio China plans to acquire 10% of Geely's Haohan Energy as the companies deepen cooperation on charging networks and battery swap technology.

Geely Holding Group plans to acquire a 30% stake in Nio Power in exchange for its entire equity interest in Yiyi Power and 640 million yuan ($94.8 million) in cash, adding equity investment to its charging and battery swap partnership with Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO).

Nio said on Monday, September 28, that it had signed definitive agreements with Geely Holding subsidiaries. The transactions remain subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Geely will use the assets and cash to subscribe for newly issued equity in Nio Power, valuing the business at about 16 billion yuan after the investment, according to Nio's Hong Kong stock exchange filing.

Upon completion, Nio China will retain control of Nio Power with a 63.6% stake, while existing investor Wuhan Guangchuang Emerging Technology Phase I Venture Capital Fund Partnership will hold the remaining 6.4%.

The deal will bring Geely's battery swap business for commercial fleets into Nio Power, advancing the partnership from technical standards and network sharing to business integration.

Yiyi Power's fleet battery swap operations will subsequently be integrated into Nio Power, which will continue to optimize the relevant network to support the business's growth, Nio said in a press release.

Geely's final stake is also tied to certain operational milestones. Its holding may be reduced after closing if performance falls short, but will not drop below 20%.

Geely was also granted an option to invest a further 640 million yuan in cash. Excluding any post-closing equity adjustments, exercising the option would raise its stake to 34% and reduce Nio China's holding to 60%.

The option must be exercised within 2 years of closing or before Nio Power signs binding agreements for a new financing round, whichever comes first.

In the charging business, Nio China agreed to subscribe in cash for newly issued equity in Geely's Zhejiang Haohan Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (Haohan Energy), giving it a 10% stake upon completion.

Haohan Energy will use the proceeds to purchase certain charging assets from Nio. The filing did not disclose the investment amount, and the transaction is also subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions.

The companies also plan to fully connect their charging infrastructure, expand coverage and improve operating efficiency, combining mutual equity investments with cooperation across their charging and battery swap networks.

For the consumer market, the companies plan to jointly develop unified battery swap technologies and standards. Geely will develop battery-swappable models, with Nio Power providing swap services.

However, Nio's Hong Kong filing said the battery swap plans covering consumer models and commercial mobility businesses under Geely remain preliminary. Their finalization and implementation are subject to further discussions among the relevant parties.

Nio said the partnership would accelerate the expansion of its battery swap network. Nio Power aims to operate 10,000 swap stations by 2030, when annual electricity demand across the network is expected to exceed 10 billion kWh.

Geely plans to build more than 22,000 charging stations with over 100,000 charging connectors by the end of 2027, including more than 15,000 smart charging stations with over 50,000 smart charging connectors.

The partnership builds on earlier cooperation in technology and infrastructure. Nio and Geely Holding entered into a battery swap strategic partnership in November 2023 and expanded their cooperation to charging network connectivity in March 2024.

Nio Power has previously raised outside capital. In May 2024, it announced a 1.5 billion yuan strategic investment led by the Wuhan Guangchuang fund to support technology development, operations and charging and battery swap infrastructure expansion.

($1 = 6.7489 yuan)