What’s new: Chinese electric-car maker Li Auto plans to sell $2 billion of American Depositary Shares (ADSs) through an “at-the-market” stock offering, the company said Tuesday.
An at-the-market offering is a flexible stock sale in which a company offers a designated number of new shares over time at prevailing market prices.
Each ADS represents two shares of Li Auto’s Class A common stock. Based on the average closing price of the five trading days before June 24, Li Auto will sell 53.84 million ADSs, equivalent to 5.2% of the company’s outstanding common shares.
Proceeds will be used to develop new electric vehicle technologies including autonomous driving, design future models and platforms, and increase working capital, the Beijing-based company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Li Auto’s shares on Nasdaq recently traded at $37.73, up 17% this year.
The background: Founded in 2015, Li Auto specializes in upscale electric SUVs with so-called “range extenders,” which are internal-combustion engines that act as generators to recharge vehicles’ batteries while driving.
Li Auto started delivery of its first midsize SUV model ONE in November 2019. As of the end of May, the company sold 170,000 of the vehicles. Last week, the company launched a full-size flagship SUV, the L9. Li Auto said it received 30,000 L9 orders as of Sunday and plans to start delivery by the end of August.
Li Auto acquired a plant in Beijing’s Shunyi suburb from a joint venture of BAIC Motor and South Korea’s Hyundai Motor last year and is now upgrading the facility. It plans to make pure electric vehicles with fast-charging function at the plant.
Contact reporter Denise Jia (huijuanjia@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bob.simison@caixin.com)
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